14th Fight All Set?
by Emma5
Summary: Domon/Rain; George/Marie Louise; Sai Saici/Cecil; Argo/Natasha; Chibodee/Allenby. Rated for violence/content. Basically, a couple strange events lead the Shuffles to believe something is going to happen at the next tournament... or will it?
1. 3 Years After

Well I got bored so I started looking at pix on ... then I started listening to mozart... so I got a fanfic idea! ::shrug:: go figure. This is a big fat romance fic, Domon/Rain, George/Marie Louise, Argo/Nastasha (if I can pull it off... those two are hard to write for since they rarely talk in the first place o_O) and Chibodee/Allenby (DON'T HATE ME SHIRLEY FANS! I love her too, but like I said, I was looking at pix at the Shuffle Alliance page and saw Chibodee and Allenby skiing, it was too cute :-D)   
Oh, and for the hell of it, I spell 'George' 'Jorge' in this fic. Looks more french, as a review I saw in a different fanfic pointed out. (Edit 5-14-03: I pissed people off with my 'J' spelling, so I switched it back.) 

This fic takes place three years after the 13th Tournament, and only a few months are left before the Gundams are sent to earth to battle in preparation of the 14th Tournament. 

"people talking" 

_'people thinking'_

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"These events are alwasy so boring. Don't you agree, George?" Marie Louise asked as she and George stepped into the enormous ballroom of the Neo France palace. George smiled down at her and nodded, observing the sight in front of him. Unnumerable couples were twirling around eachother in time to the soft orchestra, and the dim light that sparkled down from the ceiling made the scene seem magical. The two made their way through the ballroom towards the head table, where places were saved for both of them. Dancers stopped and bowed as the two passed, making Marie and Jorge look like boats cutting through the crowd and causing them to bow in their wake.   
The onlookers whispered to eachother as the couple passed. 

"Princess Marie Louise has on an even more beautiful gown this time than at the last ball." one woman commented as Marie passed her. The dress was beautiful- its sleeves fell off of her shoulders, and it was so light a pink that the color could barely be noticed. Her hair was left down, and it tumbled down her back in soft waves and curls. Her earrings were gold, matching the glitter of the thin tiara that crowned her head. Her shoes were tiny and clear, making the softest of sounds as she floated through the hall. 

"I agree, but Monsieur George looks more dashing than I have ever seen him." a second replied. George had declined to wearing his usual attire and instead wore a knightly uniform of navy blue. His white cape was fastened in place by gold shoulder caps, and flowed triumphantly in his wake. 

"When do you think they will be married? They have always been fond of eachother, it seems, and she would visit him during the 13th Tournament... they must be planning to hold it soon." the first stated Jorge and Marie took their seats, and the crowd began to dance again. 

"Well I heard that he has not yet proposed to her." 

"Maybe the King rejects the idea." the first replied. The King was never fond of the idea of Marie Louise and Jorge being together, and the entire nation knew it. "It's true that he is simply a Gundam fighter... but I think they make a lovely couple. Monsieur Jorge is a very kind and talented young man, and if he were to marry the princess and eventually become King, I believe he would do a fine job." 

The woman's friend nodded, and the two dissapeared into the crowd to find their escorts. 

"Miss Marie, would you care to dance?" George asked after dinner had been served. Marie Louise smiled and nodded, holding gingerly to his offered arm. The two glided onto the dance floor just as a waltz filled the air. They began to twirl in time with the humming violins, making perfect movements as they cut through the other dancers. Marie Louise grinned as they danced, feeling pleased that she had been convinced to attend the ball. 

"I have to admit, this is more interesting than I thought it would be." she said as he gave her a little dip. "If you weren't here, I would have never been able to stand it. I'm sure father would have brought as many suitors as he could find..." Marie continued, trailing at the end. Her smile had faded and in it's place was a look of sadness and worry. 

"Marie Louise, I won't let your father take you from me. I realise that he doesn't like our being together, but even if he is the King, I cannot stand to see you courted by others." George said in a very serious tone. Marie Louise smiled weakly at him and laid her head on his chest as the music grew slower and softer. 

"George you know I can't stand to be without you..." she whispered, feeling as though she was going to cry. George kissed the top of her head and held her tightly, thinking the same thing. 

"We'll get through this, Marie. I promise." George said quietly. _'I just hope the tournament doesn't keep me away long enough for her father to marry her off to someone else.'_  
George looked to his side and saw the Gundam Rose standing outside a window, it's metallic surface shining in the moonlight. _'speaking of the tournament, Argo called the other day and said he had some urgent information reguarding the 14th Gundam Fight. I must contact him right away....'_

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"Now Sai Saici, try not to get into any trouble while we're gone."  
"I know, Zuisen..."  
"Try and train at least a little."  
"I will, Keiun..."  
"Behave yourself in the hotel, no room service!"  
"All RIGHT..." 

"Don't eat too much." "Don't hurt yourself!" "Try and keep out of others' business!"   


"And above all..."  
"And above all..." 

"I KNOW!!" Sai Saici shouted as the two monks recoiled. They hadn't gotten used to the fact that the now-17 year old Sai had grown tremendously in the past three years, and was now taller than them both. His voice had also grown deeper, making his booming voice a bit more intimidating than it would have been before. "Look I'll be careful, ok? Now hop on your plane and head back to Neo China. I can spend time in Neo Hong-Kong without being watched over, I'm 17 for cryin out loud!!" 

The monks looked at eachother, their eyes suddenly huge and teary... 

"THEY GROW SO FAST!"  
"THEY GROW SO FAST!"  
The two wailed, hugging onto Sai as wobbly tears streamed down their faces. 

"GET ON THE PLANE!" 

The two monks recoiled again, then waved their goodbyes and hopped on the plane. Sai got outside and hailed himself a cab, collapsing onto the back seat as soon as he got in. 

"heh, behave my ass..." Sai grinned, his eyes flickering with mischief. The cab finally pulled over in front of a hotel and Sai hopped out, three huge suitcases in his arms, one rolling on the ground next to him, and a bag slung over his shoulder. "TONIGHT I'LL HAVE A NIGHT ON THE TOWN!" 

"Sai Saici?" a high, feminine voice asked from behind him. Sai turned around and looked down straight into a pair of cerulean eyes, set in a cute round face and framed with two blue ponytails. 

"C-Cecil?!"   
Sai stammered, gawking at her. "Um, yea Sai, but you dropped all your bags..." Cecil stammered as she looked up at Sai Saici, her cheeks slightly pink.  
_'He sure has grown... I used to be able to look him straight in the eye, but now he's got to be 4 inches taller than me.'_ She smiled as Sai looked at her with a confused look. _'Same old Sai...'_

"S-so what are ya doin here?" He asked, managing to supress his embarrassment as he gathered his bags back up. Cecil laughed a little as she helped him out, and the two headed into the hotel. 

"Actually, I'm not really sure... Hans just said that we needed to come to Neo Hong Kong for some business. He's been gone all day lately, so I thought today I'd have a look around." She said. The two made it up the elevator and onto Sai's floor, and after some fumbling with the card key, the door was opened and they dropped his things inside.  
"Hans has been acting strange lately... he barely says anything when he gets home, and when he does talk he mumbles to himself. I'm getting worried..." she continued, sitting on the bed and looking down at her feet. Sai sat down too, looking at her with worry. 

"Will you be alright?" he asked, looking at her with deep concern. 

"Oh... yes I'm sure it will be just fine!" Cecil replied, breaking out another smile.  
_'I don't want to worry him... I can tell him all of these things later.'_ she thought. Sai smiled back at her, then turned red as a cherry as Cecil fell into his torso and hugged him tightly. 

"I've missed you so much, Sai..." she said quietly. Her voice lacked the happy tone that it usually held, it sounded tired and worried.  
"I missed you too Cecil." Sai said after a moment, his face falling from the smile it had. _'Something isn't right...'_

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"498, 499, 500. There, can we go to lunch now?" a tired and sweaty Chibodee pleaded. Allenby was nearby, reclining on the Gundam Maxter's foot. She lifted her sunglasses and looked Chibodee over, then shook her head. 

"You don't look tired enough. 500 more!" She replied with an evil grin. Chibodee's stomach growled, and he rubbed at it, giving Allenby the puppy-dog face.   
"Hey, you're the one who suggested we train together. Don't give me that look just cause it's starting to get tough!" She replied, letting her sunglasses fall. Chibodee regretfully started his routine over. 

"1... 2... 3... Allenby I'm done, I can't move another muscle!" he pouted, sprawling out on the floor of the warehouse that Maxter and Nobel were being kept. The sun shone brightly through the door and poured over over his face, and just as he moved an arm to block it, a shadow moved in front of the light. Chibodee sat up with a to see a huge, looming, muscular figure standing in the door, accompanied by a stern looking woman. 

"Gah! Argo don't freak me out like that!" Chibodee exclaimed as Argo and Nastasha walked into the hangar. Allenby waved to the two as she hopped off Maxter and trodded over to the group. 

"Good, you're here too Allenby." Argo stated simply. 

"ummm yea... but what brings the both of you all the way out here? We're not exactly a hop skip and a jump from Neo Russia." Allenby said. She threw a towel a Chibodee, who took it gratefully. 

"It's about the next Tournament." He continued. Allenby and Chibodee both perked up at this remark. Chibodee threw the towel to a corner and pulled his shirt back on. 

"The tournament, huh? Let's go grab some food, we can talk about this over lunch." 

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Well, I was going to include the Domon and Rain section in here, but I need to sleep! Hoped you folks liked it... REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!! :-D 


	2. Attack!

Well here's chap. 2... hope ya like it :) It starts ot sorta boring but at the end theres a lot of action in it, so next chapter will probably end up being the lovey-dovey one. Oh forgot to mention something... I can't quite remember if Michelo, Chapman etc. die in the end but if they do, pretend they didn't ^_^; 

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"Rain, that was delicious!" Mr. Kasshu said with a proud smile as he, Domon and Rain finished their lunch. Rain smiled with appreciation at his comment. 

"Well thank you, it's nice to know that SOME people appreciate my cooking." she said, glaring at Domon when she reached the end of the sentence. 

"What, I compliment you!"  
"Then compliment me right now."  
"ok............ well, the beans are definetly... interesting....."  
"Domon!"  


The phone suddenly rang, and Domon scooted out of the room before Rain could protest. His voice drifted into the room as Mr. Kasshu and Rain watched him pace. His voice sounded grim and serious. 

"Rain," he started as he reentered the room and grabbed his cape. A frown was chiseled onto his face. "Let's go."  
"What?" Rain asked, standing up from the table. "What do you mean 'lets go'? We've barely even sat down to eat..."  
"We're going to Neo America to meet up with Chibodee and Argo. The plane's all set- we leave in an hour." 

Rain almost fell over. "An hour?! Domon you can't be..." But Domon shot her a serious look, and she instantly understood. 

_'It's about the Tournament...'_  
"I'll get my things. I'm sorry we have to cut your stay short, Mr. Kasshu." Rain said with regret. Mr. Kasshu simply waved it off and smiled wisely at her. 

"Don't you worry about it, Rain. And please, just call me Dad from now on. It would sound more natural that to have you call me Mr. Kasshu." 

But Rain had already started up the stairs and didn't quite hear what he said. Mr. Kasshu followed and packed his things, then bid the two a farewell and left. Domon came up the stairs not long after his father had left and began to pack his own things. 

"Domon..." Rain started. "Exactly what about the Tournament could be so important?" 

Domon paused for a moment, then continued to pack his bag.  
"You know how Argo and Nastasha have been on that pirate ship since the end of the tournament, right? Well last week the two were flying by the Devil colony... the skeleton of the Devil Gundam suddenly lit up, then broke into hundreds of pieces and fell to earth, right in front of their eyes. This can't be just a coincidence." He said gravely. Rain was taken aback- could the Devil Gundam have come back to life? 

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"Well, Domon and Rain are on their way. They'll get here soon." Chibodee said as he hung up the phone. He, Allenby, Argo and Nastasha were back at the warehouse that the Maxter, Nobel, and now Bolt Gundam were being stored. Argo and Nastasha had already explained the situation to Chibodee and Allenby. 

"I spoke with George yesterday evening, he'll be here around that time as well." Argo replied. 

"Have you spoken with Sai Saici?" Chibodee asked, but Argo shook his head.   
"I haven't been able to find where he is." 

"Hong Kong," Allenby suddenly spoke up. "he's in Neo Hong Kong. I talked to Domon the other day, he said that Sai Saici was taking a vacation there. He'll know where he is staying." 

The four sat around a table in the warehouse, each deep in thought. 

_'Why would the Devil Gundam suddenly explode like that? It couldn't have been an accident, things like that just don't happen!'_ Allenby thought as she stared into her clenched fists, which were resting on the table. She lifted her head to look up at Chibodee, but he was already staring back at her. They both turned a bit pink, then Allenby stood up. 

"I'm gonna go change before they get here." Allenby said a little shakily. Chibodee stood up and followed her out. 

"yea, I need to shower..." 

Nastasha and Argo barely acknowledged their leaving, but started to talk after they were gone. 

"This should have ended three years ago." Nastasha said quietly. Though she wasn't willing to admit it, she feared the Devil Gundam, and all it had brought her in the past. She could deal with it attacking her, she was used to being attacked after being in the military for so long. What she wasn't used to was the feeling she got when Argo was defeated. She would never be able to erase from her mind the sight of the ruined Bolt Gundam on Lantau Island, or the way that Argo was lying on the ground outside the cockpit, terribly still, but smiling. The sight had almost shattered her, and she was sure that she would have broken in two had Argo not begin to move.  
Argo nodded at her comment.  
"This time, it will end indefinetly. I'll make sure of it." he replied, lying his huge hand on top of her own as a silent reassurance. Nastasha lay her free hand over his, giving it a slight squeeze to let him know she got the message. 

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"Hey wait a sec, Allenby." Chibodee started as he caught up to her in the long hallway that lead to their small rooms. It was about two hours later, and George, Marie, Domon and Rain were about to arrive at the warehouse.  
Allenby turned around, her hands clasped together behind her back. 

"Whats on your mind, Chib?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. 

"I've been thinking... the Devil Gundam exploded, so we at least know it hasn't repaired itself and come back. But those pieces of the skeleton could still contain DG cells." He leaned against the wall as he spoke, sticking his hands in his pockets. "I wouldn't be surprised if they started infecting people right away." 

Allenby paused, looking down at her feet before speaking.  
"I wouldn't doubt it." she quietly agreed. "But ya know what?" 

"What?"  
"I'm not worried. Me and you make a great team, and if anything happens I'm sure we can handle it." she replied, smiling brightly. Chibodee nodded in agreement and the two headed back to the main room of the warehouse, where Argo, Nastasha, George, Marie Louise, Domon and Rain had all gathered. Allenby sat with her back to the huge door of the warehouse, which was cracked open, and Chibodee took a seat next to hers. 

Nastasha and Argo spent the next half hour explaining the situation in detail to the newly arrived people. George and Marie Louise were quite surprised, but Domon and Rain had already heard most of the story. 

"So, what do you propose we do?" George asked after the story had sunk in.  
"We have no choice but to wait. There is no way of telling where the pieces could have fallen." Argo replied in his low voice.  
"Hey, Chibodee mentioned something eariler, we already know the Devil Gundam won't be coming back, but what if those pieces still contained DG cells? They could start infecting people as soon as they liked." Allenby spoke up.  
"There's a good possibility that that could happen, though the cells would still need someone telling them what to do. They cannot act on their own." Rain said slowly. 

"Hey... where's Sai Saici?" Domon asked after a moment.  
"Oh... we didn't know where he was staying, so we couldn't get a hold of him." Allenby said. As she spoke, a shadow crept through the door behind her, too low for anyone to see. "We were going to ask... AH!" she suddenly shouted. Her hand lung up to her neck and pulled out a small dart, which was dripping a clear solution. 

"Sai Saici will not be joining you. His hands are full." A thin, sinister voice hissed from the doorway. Everyone sprung from their seats as the huge door rolled up and open, and more attackers (all were masked) poured into the warehouse, surrounding the group.  
"Don't bother calling forth your gundams, you won't have the chance to get into them." the voice continued as the attackers approached the group from all sides. Jorge and Domon had placed themselves in front of Marie Louise and Rain. Nastasha was standing by Argo, ready to fight, as was Allenby with Chibodee.  
"You sure you're alright, Allenby?" Chibodee asked her as his arm rose instinctively in front of her. She stepped in front of it and assumed a fighting stance, though her face was growing pale.  
"I'm fine." she replied as she eyed the oncoming assailants. "Besides, I said we're a team, and I'm not gonna let you fight without me!" she said with enthusiasm. One of the attackers came at her full-force, and the attack began. 

"Marie Louise, stay back!" George shouted as he kicked away an attacker.  
_'They aren't trying to fight me, they're trying to get past me, and get to Marie Louise... but what do they want with her?'_ He asked himself as he fought off another foe. _'Also, these men don't seem to be very experienced fighters, yet they are incredibly strong. It's as if they gained their strength in a day...'_ His face suddenly lit up in realization. _ 'could they be infected with DG cells?!'_

Argo grabbed the heads of two attackers and slammed them together, knocking each of them out. Nastasha was busy taking out some baddies on her own, but they just kept coming, and it seemed that more were attacking her than Argo. Ten of them suddenly approached her, All attacking at once.  
_'Should I call for help? ...no, no I won't! I'm not a weakling!'_ She shouted in her mind as she tried to pick them off one by one. But one of the attackers managed to approach her as she was preoccupied. He picked her up by the waist and tossed her against the wall of the warehouse. Her glasses flew from her face, and her foot hit the wall with a sickening crack as her body followed.  
"Nastasha!" Argo shouted as he saw her sail through the air and slap against the wall ankle-first. He barrelled over to her, angrily slammed through the attackers, then bent down, scooped her up and picked up her glasses, all in one motion. 

"George, your left!" Marie Louise shouted as more attackers poured over the Fighter. An unusually large man had grabbed a fire extinguisher and was approaching George with it, fast. Before Jorge could look, the make-shift weapon was connecting to the side of his head and knocking him to the ground, totally unconcious.  
"No, George!" Marie cried as she ran over to him. The attackers loomed over her as she held on to him tightly. "Get back!" she shouted, then suddenly pulled a small box from behind her back, squeezed her eyes shut and opened it. A scorching bright light shone from inside, blinding the attackers for a moment. A huge arm suddenly folded over her as the other hooked around Jorge, and Argo slammed through the attackers to the green car that was waiting outside, with Nastasha already in it. He set Marie Louise down, who jumped into the back seat and pulled George in from the other side as Argo set him inside. The four then sped away from the warehouse, leaving the four that remained behind.  
"Wait, can we just leave them there like that?!" Marie asked in alarm as she cradled George's head in her lap. Argo frowned and pressed the gas harder.  
"We're not out of the woods yet, the ones that were attacking us seem to have followed. Once I loose them we'll go back to our ship. There's nothing we can do for the others right now, I just hope they fair better than we did." He replied. Marie nodded slowly. He was right, they had no choice but to leave. Poor George was definetly in no shape to fight, and even Argo wouldn't have been able to protect the three of them, plus himself. 

"What about the Gundam? We can't just leave it there..." Nastasha said as she gingerly moved her ankle onto the seat by her side.  
"They weren't after the Gundams, they were after you girls." Argo replied. Marie and Nastasha looked at him, startled.  
"What?" Marie asked with alarm.  


"Those men weren't trying to get us, they were going after you." He repeated. "We were wrong, this isn't about the tournament. This is about Revenge." 

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"Hey, where did Argo and the others go?" Chibodee shouted to Domon from across the warehouse.  
"Dunno, but I saw George take a pretty bad hit. My guess is they took off." He shouted back, kicking a guy in the stomach as he did so. Rain stood behind him, in a fighting stance. 

"Hey Allenby, how you doin?" Chibodee asked over his shoulder. Allenby was standing, shakily, next to him. She had stopped trying to attack people a while ago, now she was only trying to defend herself. She looked much more tired than she should be, and all the color was drained from her face. "...Allenby?!" 

"heh... no good..." she stammered as her legs gave out underneath her and she tumbled forward towards the ground. The poison had finally taken it's effect.  


"Allenby!!" Chibodee shouted as she hit the ground, breathing heavily. An attacker lunged forward at her, but was hit in the gut by a furious Chibodee, sending him sailing towards the gound 8 feet away.  
"S-sorry, guess I'm not... not holding up my half of the deal..." Allenby said weakly.  
"You just hang in there Allenby, I'm getting you out of here!" He said, scooping her up and racing towards his car outside as their attackers followed them.   
"Domon, we gotta get out of here!" He shouted as he kicked someone to the side, Allenby still in his arms. She lifted her head and looked up at him as he ran with her in his arms, then smiled weakly.  
_'he's so warm...'_

"Domon! Chibodee's right, we need to get out of here. You need that bandaged, and I need to care for Allenby as well!" Rain said worriedly. Domon frowned angrily as she spoke, knowing she was right. One of the attackers had already managed to slice him in the chest with a knife, and the people that Argo & co. had lost were coming back in through the door, ready to attack those who were left. 

"Domon..."  
"Right. Let's go." Domon replied. He grabbed her hand and plowed through the attackers in front of them, running towards the door. Chibodee had just put Allenby in the back seat of his car when Domon and Rain burst out of the building. Domon hopped into the driver's seat and Rain jumped in next to him. Chibodee shut himself in the back seat with Allenby and the four took off.  
"Argo probably headed for his ship. They'll have the equipment we need for Allenby." Domon said as he sped down the street. The attackers that had followed them were long gone, all that was left was to arrive at the ship. 

"Hey, Chibodee, how does she look?" Domon asked seriously, peeking into the rearview mirror at Chibodee, who was still holding Allenby.  
"Not good." he replied. There was a hint of anger in his voice as he spoke.

_'Damn... I was right next to her and I didn't even see the damn guy coming. I should have noticed...'_

The four drove quickly and silently, and 10 minutes later they finally approached the docked pirate ship that Argo and Nastasha had traveled on, along with Argo's crew.  
"Hey Domon... what do you suppose that man meant when he said that Sai Saici 'had his hands full'?" Rain suddenly asked. Domon's gritted his teeth and frowned, pressing the accelerator down harder. 

"I'm sure they've found him too." He said angrily. "And I'd bet anything that Cecil's with him." 

Rain looked at him with a confused expression. 

"I'll explain when we get inside." he said quietly. 

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Whew, well THAT only took like 4 hours o_O. In the next chapter we'll see how Sai Saici and Cecil are fairing, and we might even get a look at the baddies. Review pweez!!!! :-p Hope you enjoyed!! 


	3. Hiding Out

Before I start ranting, let me just say that the rooms on Argo's spaceship aren't nicely furnished or anything... they're pretty empty save the bed(s), maybe a night stand or a dresser, and the door. IF there are typos and spelling errors, it's cause my MS word died on me and I have no spell check. 

SetoKaiba 46 and SAiSAiciAngel... yes, Sai should be 19 or 20. But frankly, Sai just doen't seem 16 or 17 during the 13th tournament, (not just the gary coleman-like shortness, he seems to act a little less old that a 17 year old) and since I can, I've made him only 17 here (and tall!). I didn't want all of the relationships in the fic to be about adults, so keeping Sai and Cecil young just worked out better. As for the plane thing (SetoKaiba 46)... well, just pretend the temple is far, far away across China so they need a one. ^_^; 

As you can see, I changed the spelling of Jorge back to George. To those people who got pissed off by my spelling of Jorge, know that the 'J' version is how it appears on the official artwork, so it's actually the way it's supposed to be spelled. But heck, if it's what you want then here ya go. 

Black Joker Lady, I put the 'S' in Nastasha. Still, I'll probably spell it wrong in a few places on accident! 

On one last note... I don't like flames, so don't write them. Critiquing I like, but when someone reviews and says something to the effect of 'you suck'... well that isn't critiquing, that's PMSing. If you don't like it, don't read it. 

I'm all done ranting, on with chapter 3!! 

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Cecil sat on her bed, combing through her ocean blue hair as she watched her image in the mirror. She had taken it out of the girlish ponytails she usually kept it in, and noticed that it looked nice left down. It made her look a bit older. 

"About half an hour to go... but where could Hans be?" Cecil asked herself. She had left Sai's place a few hours ago and come home, getting ready for the dinner that Sai had insisted on making for her and her brother. 

"Now, you go home so I can go out and buy all the things I need!" Sai had said as he urged her towards the door. "I'll have to get to your place early so I can cook most of it there, that way it'll be nice and hot." 

"That'd be great, I'd love to have you cook for us," she said with a smile. "It's been a while since I've had your cooking!" 

"Then I'll be there at six. Seeya then!" Sai said as he waved her off, then grabbed some money and ran out the door to do his shopping. 

Cecil sighed as she watched the image in the mirror fasten two silver-studs in her ears. "I hope this isn't too dressy..." Cecil said as she looked over her attire. She was wearing an oriental dress, pure white, and decorated with huge, soft pink flowers. The lines that ran around the collar and the slit on the side of the leg were a shade lighter than her hair, as was the diagonal line that ran from the collar under the sleeve.  
"Hans... where could you be?" 

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"Ok, no panicking, I just need to get there and I'll be fine!" Sai encouraged himself as he walked down the darkening street, holding the supplied and anything he had already prepared in a large shopping bag. He had traded in his usual yellow outfit for a sleeveless, fire-red oriental shirt, and black pants.  
"Hmmm... I wonder if this dinner thing counts as a date?" he thought outloud.  
"Chibodee said there were signs that could tell you for sure... what were they again? I think one was 'If she's dressed up', another's 'if she lets you pay for stuff'... well wait that one won't count... and plus Hans is going to be there, so what does that... ouch!"   
Sai said as he bumped into someone. The bag he was carrying fell to the ground. 

"Hey bro, sorry bout that... Hans?!" Sai suddenly said as he looked into the face of the man he had bumped into. It was Hans alright, the ocen-blue hair was a total giveaway.  
Hans looked back at Sai Saici with a stange mix of fear and surprise. His eyes weren't their usual cerulean color, but a duller, more foggy one. Almost the color of the sky on a cloudy, rainy day. 

"Sai Saici..." he said with a strained voice. Hans grabbed the front of Sai's shirt as he began to sink to the ground, shaking as he did so. 

"Hans, whats goin on, whats wrong??" Sai asked in alarm as he bent down to help Hans back up. But Hans pushed Sai away. 

"Cecil... go get Cecil!" Hans pleaded to Sai. "P-please... you need to k-keep her away f-from me!" He shouted. 

"Hans, whats going on?!" Sai said as he grabbed Hans by the collar, accidentally ripping it a little.  
Suddenly, a blood red light sept from Hans' eyes as the aqua-haired man looked up at Sai. "...Bro?" Sai asked, his voice darkly cautious. 

Hans suddenly grabbed him by the collar, causing Sai to release his own grip on Hans. He tossed Sai into the air then kicked him in the side, sending him flying to the ground until he skidded to a stop. Scrapes and bruises appeared on the fighter almost immediatly. 

"Hans, what the hell are you doing?!" Sai shouted. But Hans had already taken off running in the direction of his hotel. As he ran, Sai noticed a silvery glint on his shoulder, in the place where his collar had torn... 

_'DG cells... those are DG cells!'_ He thought in alarm. _ 'He must've been warning me to protect Cecil, from himself!'_

Sai took off running towards her hotel, leaving the bag of food spilled on the road. _'Cecil, just hold on till I get there!'_

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Cecil looked up from the shoes she was putting on as the door to the hotel room opened and shut loudly, and quick, heavy footsteps came her way. 

"Hans, that you?" She asked as she set down her hairbrush and walked to the door. But instead of being met with big, happy blue eyes, she was staring into a pair of burning, blood red ones. Her eyes widened in horror, and before she could even gasp, Hans grabbed her by the throat and held her up against the wall, strangling her. His eyes were still glowing red, but tears were leaking out from them. 

"Big... Brother...?!" Cecil gasped as he tightened his grip around her throat. Her vision began to blur, and just as she thought she was going to faint, a bright red figure slammed into her brother, causing him to let go of her. 

"Cecil, can you stand?" the voice rang out as her brother attacked it. Cecil rubbed at the finger marks on her neck, staring at her brother, and the now-clear Sai Saici in awe. 

"Hans... Hans this can't be true..." She whispered as she tried to regain her breath. She could tell her breathing wouldn't be normal for a little while- her throat felt like it had been crushed. 

"Right now, this isn't your brother." Sai said gravely as he dodged a punch. "Someone's infected him with DG cells."  
Cecil gasped, tears streaming from her face. Her brother, infected with DG cells? But how could it be?! 

Sai kicked Hans into a nearby wall as Cecil tried to stand up, but as soon as she did her vision spun and she lost her balance.   
"Cecil!" Sai shouted as he jumped between her and the floor, catching her in his arms. 

_'This is no good... those cells have made him so much stronger. He's taking my hits like their nothing! We've got to get out of here, now...'_

Sai stood up with Cecil, then ran to the balcony of the hotel room and jumped off, even though it was a few stories up. 

"Sai, wait..." Cecil said weakly as they cut through the air. "we can't just leave him like that..."  
Sai landed perfectly on the ground and took off for his hotel. 

"There isn't anything we can do for him right now, and he's too strong an opponent for me to handle." he said gravely. Cecil laid her head against Sai's chest as he spoke, he eyes welling up.  
"We're going to go back to my room... does he know where I'm staying?" Sai asked as he sped through the side-streets and alleys of Neo Hong Kong. Cecil shook her head slowly. 

"He doesn't know." she quietly replied. Sai nodded as they approached his hotel. He jumped into the air, landing onto the balcony of his own hotel room, then opened the sliding door cautiously to make sure no one was waiting for them. He set Cecil down on his bed, then took a seat next to her. She looked very upset, and kept touching the marks on her neck. 

"Cecil..." he started, taking her hands and moving them from her neck. She looked back up at him with a dazed, sad expression, but then squeezed her eyes shut and opened them back up, returning the life to them.  
"Sai, you're all bruised and cut up." she said suddenly, lightly touching one of his bruises as he flinched. "Did... did Hans do that?" she asked quietly. Sai nodded. 

"He knew what was going to happen, he told me to go get you before the cells kicked in. I'm sorry I didn't get there earlier..." 

Cecil put a finger over his mouth, then made him turn around so she could look at his back. His shirt had ripped diagonally, and a long scrape shone red against his dark skin. Cecil slowly walked into the bathroom, so she wouldn't loose her breath, and got a towel and a dish of water. She wet the towel, then pressed it against the scrape. She finally noticed his new attire, and smiled to herself as she looked it over.  
_'He got all dressed up... and even though it's all torn up, he looks so handsome in it...'_

"You got all dressed up." Sai suddenly said, repeating her thoughts. Cecil blushed slightly and nodded, dabbing the cloth into the water and reapplying it. _'Heh, guess it sorta was a date...'_ Sai thought with a grin. 

"You look very handsome, Sai." she replied. Sai's face was the one to turn red this time.  
"But I'm all bruised up..." he started, swallowing hard. Cecil turned him back around so he was facing her.  
"Doesn't matter. If you were in a full-body cast, you'd still be handsome." she replied with a soft smile. Sai smiled back at her as she pressed the cloth against a scrape on his shoulder. 

The phone suddenly rang, startling them both. Sai got up and slowly walked over to answer it.  
"Hello?"  
"Sai, that you? Are you alright? Where's Cecil, is she with you? Is she alright? Have you guys had anyone visit?" the mature, but stressed-sounding voice of Domon asked over the phone.  
"Whoa whoa, chill out bro. We're both fine, for now at least. How did you know she was here?" Sai asked.  
"Call it a hunch." Domon replied with a strangely grave tone. "So I take it you two have been attacked already."  
"Yea." Sai said in a low voice. "It was Hans, actually." he paused for a moment.  
"Domon, we've got a big problem on our hands..."  
"DG cells, I know. We've all been attacked as well. All of us were at Chibodee's place when we were attacked. Argo tried to get a hold of you but he didn't know where you were staying. Right now, we need to get you and Cecil over here. The plane's already been arranged, come up to Argo's ship when you arrive." Domon replied. Sai was shocked to hear that he knew about the DG cells.  
"Domon, does this mean the Devil Gundam...?"  
"No. We thought that at first, but there's no way."  
"Then who sent the DG cells to infect people, and who's controlling them?"  
"I've got a pretty good idea on that, and on what this all is about. We're going to discuss it when you get here. Your plane leaves in... an hour and a half, your time." Domon replied. "I gotta get goin, Rain wants me to talk with Chibodee."  
"Alright, seeya later bro."  
Domon paused for a moment before saying goodbye.  
"Hey, Sai..."  
"Yea?"  
"Keep a close eye on Cecil, alright?"  
"Yea... I will. Seeya Domon." 

The two hung up the phone, and Sai walked back over to the bed and sat down by Cecil, who was lying on her back and staring up at the ceiling. Her eyes were shiny and red  
"Who was that?" she asked, wiping at her eyes. Sai frowned a little- she had been crying about her brother, most likely.  
"That was Domon." he replied after a moment. "We're heading to Neo America." 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"They're on their way. They should be here by tomorrow morning." Domon said as he hung up the phone. He and Rain were standing in the room that had been designated as their own while they were on board the ship.  
"Are they alright?" Rain asked with her trademark soft voice. Domon nodded.  
"Yea, they're fine. Though I bet Cecil's really shaken up over it. They infected her brother." Domon replied in his serious voice. Rain held her arms at the elbows and looked down at the floor.  
"I'm worried." she said as she bit her bottom lip. "If whoever is controlling the DG cells was able to infect Hans, then I'm sure he's infected other pilots as well. Also, there were at least 50 men at the warehouse. If that many people could be infected that easily, there are sure to be more."  
Domon nodded as he walked up behind her, hugging her around the waist.  
"It'll turn out ok," he spoke as he held her tightly. "We just need to lie low for a while, until everyone recovers."

Rain nodded, turning around in his arms so she was facing him. She laid her head against his chest and wrapped her arms around his torso. No matter what the situation, Domon could always made her feel safe. 

"We'll need a few days, at least, before we can show our faces. Nastasha's ankle will be fine by then, and your chest wound will be healed completely. George is recovering a lot faster than I thought he would, he should be good by then as well. It's Allenby I'm worried about. The poison is slowly being removed, but I can't get it all out. Her body will have to fight off whatever remains. I don't doubt that she'll be fine, but it may take a little more time than I anticipated. Also..." she started, peering out the glass window of their steel door. Chibodee could be seen in the room across from theirs, pacing back and fourth in front of Allenby's bed.  
"I'm worried about how Chibodee is doing. He keeps blaming himself for what happens, but he had no control over it. I think you should go talk to him." 

"I'll go take a look at how he's doin, but if he looks like he needs to be left alone I'm not going to force him to talk." Domon replied. Rain nodded, and Domon walked out of their room and peeked through the window into Chibodee's room. 

Allenby was lying on a bed with an IV hooked to her arm. he would cringe every now and then, then relax and drift back into an uneasy sleep. Chibodee had stopped his pacing as was sitting on a chair next to her bed, watching her with worry. He sat like that for a moment, and just as Domon was about to walk in, he laid his hand on top of hers and gave it a squeeze.  
"Time for me to stop doting over this." he said out loud. "heck, you'll yell at me for doin it when you wake up, so I better quit while I'm ahead." He looked over his shoulder and stared right at Domon.  
"Hey, Japanese, you can come in if you want." Chibodee said with a smirk. Domon's head jerked back from the window and he backed away, waving nervously.  
"Eh... Just passing by!" he said quickly as he stuck his hands in his pockets and ran back to his own room. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"Ouch! Don't do it so tight!" Nastasha protested as Argo carefully wrapped her ankle. He looked up at her with a smirk- an odd thing, coming from him.  
"You usually don't complain this much when you're hurt." he stated as he wound the wrap around her foot.  
"I'm just a bit cranky, thats all." she replied, looking down at the bed she was sitting on. Argo finished the job and fastened the wrap in place.  
"You know," he began in his low, rumbling voice. "It isn't a weakness to need help from time to time." he said as he patted the top of the wrap lightly. Nastasha looked up at him, a small look of surprise on her face. Argo helped her stand, letting her use his huge shoulder for balance. He was about to stand up to leave, when she suddenly leaned down and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. 

"Thank you." she stated quickly. She gave him a small smile before she carefully walked out of the room, leaving the huge pilot alone, with a surprised look and red cheeks. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

George's eyes strained to open as he lie in his dark room of the spaceship. He could feel a cool, wet cloth over his forehead, and something heavy resting on the bed next to him. He slowly sat up, cringing at the pain from a headache, and removed the cloth, setting it back in the bowl of water on the stand next to his room. The object next to him shifted, making a small noise as it did so.  
George smiled down at Marie as slept. She was sitting on a chair right next to him, and her head was resting on the bed by his side. She was still holding a second damp cloth. The dress she was wearing when the attack began had been ripped, so she was now wearing an oversized t-shirt which he recognized as his own, and a pair of jeans, probably an extra pair of Rain's, because they were big on her.   
George gently removed the cloth from her hand and placed it with the other in the bowl, then leaned down and brushed a strand of hair from her sleeping face. She smiled quietly as he ran is fingers down her cheek, then sighed happily. George leaned down and lifted her into the bed next to him, then lay back down on his pillow facing her. He gingerly touched the mark where the fire extinguisher had connected to his face, feeling that he hit had given him a black eye and a good sized bruise along his right cheekbone. He looked back up at Marie, who shivered slightly, and pulled the blanket over the both of them.  
_'I'll just lie here for a moment, then I'll get up before she wakes up...'_ he thought to himself. Moments later, fatigue had invaded his eyes, and he was soon fast asleep, his arm draped over his princess. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Thousands of feet above the Pacific Ocean, Sai and Cecil's plane sped through the air towards Neo America. The two were fast asleep, their chairs laid back and the arm rest between them pushed up. Cecil's upper body was lying on top of Sai's chest, and his arm was wrapped around her shoulders. They were both still wearing the clothes that they had on the night before.  
The sun shone through the window onto Sai's face, who started squinted and started trying to swat it away in his sleep. 

"It is currently 7 am. We will be landing in Neo America within the hour. Please fasten your seatbelts when the green light flashes, and enjoy the remainder of your flight." 

****************************************************************** 

Next chapter, I promise I'll bring all the stuff I've been building up to out in the light! I wanted to finish up the Sai Saici and Cecil thing in this chapter and let everyone know how the shuffle boys are healing, plus I wanted to confirm to everyone that people are in fact being infected with DG cells. Next chapter should come along soon... REVIEW AND IT MIGHT COME SOONER! :-D 


	4. Motive Revealed

Well, this is the first time since I started the fic that I haven't posted the chapters one a day. Thought I'd leave everyone hangin a little :-p. Plus I had to figure out what was going to happen next... but thats all figured out, and I am pretty pleased with it :-)! A bit of fluff has been added, and I must say, I think it is of quality :-p (I am particularly fond of the G/ML scene). This is a romance fic afterall, and I feel I have made it a little more actiony than romancy. Here's chapter 4, it's pretty dern long! Hope you like it! 

****************************************************************** 

"Need... food... NOW..." A zombie-like Sai Saici groaned as he sat at the table of the ship's small kitchen. His chin was sitting on the table, his arms dangling by his side. Cecil groaned something incomprehendable as she sank into the chair next to him. Neither had eaten since lunch the day before, and the four hours of sleep they got on the plane wasn't cutting it. Nastasha walked into the room, carrying two trays, and set one down in front of each. They both thanked her with tired and hungry voices, then started to shovel food into their mouthes. 

"We come all the way from China to get here, and barely anyone's even awake yet." Sai complained after they had finished their meal. Cecil stood up to help Nastasha clean, but she smiled and shook her head. 

"Why don't you two go get settled in. We don't have enough rooms to hold an extra eight people, so everyone's had to double up. You'll be in the first one on the right." Nastasha pointed to a long corridor, indicating to the hall where all the bedrooms were located. "There's only one bed in there, so one of you will have to sleep on the extra mattress I've laid out on the floor." 

Cecil nodded and smiled at Nastasha with appreciation.  
"Thank you for putting us up like this, Nastasha." she said gratefully. Nastasha smiled at the younger girl and waved it off.  
"In times of war, everyone has to ban together." she replied. Cecil and Sai grabbed their things and took them to the room Nastasha had pointed out, while the Russian woman was left to clean the dishes. 

Thoughts of the night before began to invade her head as she washed the dishes. Since there weren't many rooms to spare, Nastasha had to give her room up to Domon and Rain, and had shared Argo's room with him. The two were up late into the night, getting medical supplies to the people that needed them and setting up places for people to sleep. They finally finished around one, and both were exausted. That night was going to be strangely cold for summer, and she knew she would probably shiver for the rest of the night, but Nastasha was so tired that when her head his her make-shift bed, she was out like a light. 

The sun was barely up when she opened her eyes, and she was still tired, though strangely warm despite the coldness of the night. She soon found out why when she sat up and found Argo's huge, army-green vest draped over her. Her glasses were also missing from her face, but when she squinted she found that they were sitting on his nightstand.  
_'That man...'_ Nastasha thought to herself as she pulled his vest up closer to her chin. It was extremely warm, and its weight pressed down on her and made her sink into the matress. _'I've got time still, I might as well sleep a bit more...'_

Nastasha laid back down, holding the vest tightly over her shoulders. Her eyes had just fallen closed when Argo walked by the room and peeked in the window, smiled silently, then continued on. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Marie Louise yawned lazily, regretfully opening her eyes to the soft, early morning light. She had never been so comfortable- the blankets felt warmer and softer than any she could ever remember, and the t-shirt she was wearing still held the smell of George's cologne. She shifted her head on her pillow, noticing it felt much firmer than usual. She lay still for a moment, then lifted her head in surprise when the pillow breathed.  
Marie looked down at George in surprise and blushed, realizing she had rested her head on his chest sometime during the night and slept like that. 

_'But how'd I get in the bed in the first place?'_ She wondered. She looked down at George, smiling lovingly at him as he wrinkled his nose his sleep, then let his face relax again. She tenderly brushing a clump of hair from hiss face, being careful to avoid his bruised cheek and eye.  
_'Those bruises... if he wasn't trying to protect me and defend himself at the same time, he might not have gotten them.'_ she thought sadly. It seemed George was always fighting to protect her, his name, his country, or something else. He rarely fought for himself, and it was something that troubled Marie. She had been foolish enough to think he always fought for just his country, is pride, and herself once before, but when George was denied the right to fight Domon during the 13th Tournament, she was forced to see the truth... 

"George, you must return the Gundam Rose now! There's still time to apologize to my father..." she had said, pleading with him to listen.  
"Marie Louise, please stay out of this." was his reply. It was icy and totally serious, and even held some anger.  
"But if you fight you could be faced with treason, and you would be dishonoring your family's name! Could you live with that, George?" despite his cold remark, she continued to plead with him.  
"Yes... come to think of it, I have always fought for my country, and for the de Sand name... and I have fought for you as well!" by now the knight was shouting.  
"This time, I wish to fight only for myself!" 

Marie Louise was shocked- shocked that he had shouted at her, and shocked that she had been so blind to miss what George needed most. She lowered her head and quietly nodded, then left, running. It was terrible, and she promised herself that she would never be so blind again. 

Marie lightly laid her head back down on George's chest, contenting herself with listening to his heart beat and feeling his lungs rise and fall. She had almost fallen back asleep when he woke up.  


George lifted his head and looked down at the weight that laid on his chest, blushing when he realized he hadn't gotten up as he intended, and had fallen back asleep in the same bed as the princess. Marie felt him move and lifted her own head, smiling into his purple eyes. 

"I- I didn't mean to stay, you looked so uncomfortable and I was about to get up..." George stammered as his face grew even more red. Marie smiled and softly shook her head. 

"Don't act so nervous, George..." she said with a laugh. "It isn't so big a deal..."  
Marie lay her head down on the pillow as George sat up, yawning. She sighed contently, smiling again as he looked down at her with a grin, his cheeks still a little pink. It amazed him how much she had grown over the years, not just physically (though, he had to admit, he had noticed those changes) but emotionally and mentally as well. 

George leaned over her and playfully kissed the tip of her nose.  
"If you say so, Miss Marie Louise..." he said quietly, trailing off at the end of the sentence. The two suddenly found themselves staring intently into eachother's eyes, and the smiles gradually faded from their faces. Before they knew what was happening, Marie's arms were wrapped around George's neck and he was kissing her, almost intensely, full on the lips. 

"Hey French, time to get up, we have a meeting!" Chibodee's voice boomed through the closed door as he knocked loudly. The two were so surprised that George fell off the bed and Marie almost yelped, both of their faces flushed from the surprise of the knock and from the spontaneous kiss. Marie jumped from the bed and threw the blankets back on, then ran her fingers through her hair in an effort to tame it. George did the same, trying to smooth his own hair with his hands as he attempted to put on his shoes. The two clammered to the door, both still jumpy from the excitement, and nearly plowed eachother down. 

"We need to calm down before we can go in there," Marie stated with a shaky voice, looking at him nervously from the corner of her eye. George nodded, pulling at his collar and swallowing hard.  
"Yes, thats probably a good idea..." he said slowly, looking at the ground, then up to her. They paused for a moment, exchanging glances... 

"Ummm... maybe just one more?" Marie suddenly blurted out.  
"Just one..." George flew through the phrase, immediatly wrapped his arms around her waist, then brought her face to his, all in what had to be record time. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"Domon, Rain, get up!" Chibodee shouted, opening the door to their room. His face was met with a shoe thrown by Domon.  
"Go 'way..." Domon said through his pillow. He was lying face-down on his bed, his arms and legs spread out to cover every piece of the mattress they possibly could. Rain was sprawled out over him, her head and pillow on top of his back.   
"But it's almost 11, and we got a meeting in an hour!" He said angrily, rubbing at the shoe imprint on his face. Neither of the two responded. 

"Fine, suit yourself. Don't blame me if Argo comes in here and drags you both out." he said as he walked off, hands in his pockets. 

"Well you seem to have had an eventful morning." 

Chibodee turned around to see Allenby standing in the hallway, the IV out of her arm and the outfit she was wearing during the night traded in for a t-shirt and shorts.  
"Hey, what are you doing out of bed?" he asked in surprise and alarm, walking over to her and laying his hands on her shoulders. She flicked a hand and waved off the comment.  
"Eh, I got bored of sleeping, and I was hungry too. Plus do you know how much those IV things hurt?" she asked, rubbing the spot on her arm. Chibodee was about to speak, but she inturrupted him.  
"I borrowed some of your clothes, hope you don't mind." she said as she pulled at the shirt she was wearing. Chibodee hadn't even noticed it, but she was wearing one of his red shirts with the yellow star in the center, and a pair of his blue boxing shorts. Both were pretty big on her.  
"I don't mind at all..." he said, smiling at her but still looking at her cautiously. She frowned at him when he did so.  
"Geez, I'm fine now!" she insisted, not liking the look he was giving her. "Really, I am. And also..." 

Allenby leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Chibodee's chest, giving him a tight hug. He looked down at her with surprise, forgetting that his arms were still stretched out in front of him as if he were still holding her shoulders.  
"I want to thank you, for saving me back there." she looked up at him and grinned, so he smiled back widely, and Allenby could have sworn she saw something flicker behind his eyes... 

"Anytime." 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"Alright, let's get down to business." Domon started. Everyone had finally gathered at the kitchen table, awake (more or less), fed, and ready to start. Rain sat at his side, holding his hand tightly in hers. "Sai, go ahead." 

Sai cleared his throat and looked nervously at Cecil, who nodded for him to continue.  
"Yesterday, I ran into Cecil's brother Hans while I was on the way to get place." He started, staring down at his fisted hands with a serious look. "He told me to get Cecil away from him, then his eyes began to glow red. We started to fight, and when he finally knocked me down and started running, I saw DG cells on his shoulder."  
No one was very surprised that the DG cells had, in fact, returned, but the fact that Hans had been infected was alarming. 

"Whoever is controlling the DG cells has something against us, all of us." Domon piped in. "It wasn't a coincidence that Hans was infected, it was strategy. Not only is Hans a gundam fighter, making him strong already, but he had easy access to Cecil."  
That comment got some strange looks. 

"This whole situation has nothing to do with the next Tournament. The only reason the Tournament matters is because it's a key time for us, when we need to be in top shape. We're most vulnerable right now." 

"What are you gettin at, Domon." Chibodee asked, leaning forward on the table with his forearms supporting him. 

"I'm saying that the person, or people, that sent the DG cells to earth and have been controlling them are doing it for just one reason- revenge."  
Everyone was quiet for a moment, contemplating the statement... 

"That does make sense." George spoke up after a moment. "It's no secret that we have all gathered a following of people with reason to dislike us. But who would go to such a great extent?"  
"Mirabeau would." Marie's voice softly said. George looked at her with alarm, then realization. 

"She's probably right." Argo said with his usual low voice. "And I am sure there are others, one for each of us. I've heard word that Andrew Graham of Neo Canada has suddenly gone missing." 

"And Michelo Chariot somehow escaped from prison last month." Domon added. "And I'm sure there are more."   
Everyone sat silently, reflecting on the people in the past who they had defeated, and who had reason to want revenge. 

"So what now." Allenby said after a moment.  
"We do the only thing we can do, we wait." Domon replied. "None of us are fully recovered from the attacks we suffered, making a move right now would be foolish."  
"I tried calling some of the buildings next to the warehouse last night, but no one answered at any. Those guys probably scared all the people in the area off so they could set up an HQ." Chibodee added.  
Nastasha frowned as she spoke. "The Bolt Gundam, Gundam Maxter and the Nobel Gundam are all still inside the warehouse. When we do plan to strike, we must get the pilots safely inside. No doubt the enemy has called their own mobile suits to Neo America by now, so we will need every person we can get." 

Everyone sat quietly for a moment, then Chibodee broke the silence.  
"Well hey, we know why were were attacked at least. Since we've got some time on our hands, why don't we all try and unwind?" he said as he stood up. Allenby stood up too.  
"That's right, there's no use freaking out over this when we can't do anything about it yet. Let's just try and relax a bit." she said in agreement. Cecil stood up and grabbed Sai's hand, pulling him up as well.  
"Good idea, you too." she chimed in. By now everyone was standing and dispersing from the room, feeling a bit better about the situation, but more worried at the same time. As everyone walked out, Chibodee elbowed George in the side.  
"You French devil you." He said with a grin, then looked from George to Marie Louise and winked. George turned bright red, and Chibodee couldn't help but laugh. "Didn't think you had it in you, young master!"  
Allenby abruptly pulled him away from George.  
"Leave the poor guy alone, Chibodee!" Allenby said. "Besides, you've got training to do."  
"What?! But we're supposed to be resting!" He protested in a whiny voice.  
"You look totally healthy to me. Now go get changed, I want to see 500 push-ups by the end of the hour!"  
"F-five hundred?!" he stuttered as she dragged him down the hallway to the room they shared, slamming the door behind her. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"You can't be serious!" Chibodee complained when they got inside, collapsing on the floor-bound mattress that he had slept on. Allenby grinned and sat on the mattress next to him.  
"Well, maybe I'll go a little lighter on you." she said with a grin as he sat back up. "You did save me, afterall."

Allenby smiled at him, but was almost startled when she saw that Chibodee's face looked serious.  
"And I just wanted to... to thank you..." she continued quietly. He looked at her intently, and something shone behind his eyes that Allenby wasn't used to. It was softer and more serious than anything Chibodee usually showed. Both of them leaned forward, paused for a moment to look at the other, then met in a kiss. 

It was different than anything either had expected it to be- it was gentle and full of emotion that neither knew had even existed. Chibodee set his hand on the back of her head, entangling his fingers in her hair. 

_'I always thought that Chibodee was a girl-chaser, coming home with someone different every night... can this really be him?'_ Allenby thought as their quiet kiss deepened. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

George walked by Chibodee and Allenby's room, and happened to glance in the small window. His eyebrows raised with surprise, but he soon grinned and shook his head as he continued down the hall.  
"And he thinks that I am bad..." 

He next passed by Cecil and Sai's room. Both were sound asleep on the bed in the corner, Sai with his arms and leg's spread out much like Domon's had been, save the one arm that was wrapped around Cecil. She was resting her head on his chest, and George was amazed that she could sleep through Sai's loud snoring. George laughed to himself as he continued down the hallway. 

_'Ah, l'amour jeune...'_ He thought with a smile. He finally made it to the last room in the hallway, his and Marie Louise's. She smiled at him and patted the spot on the bed next to herself, motioning for him to come over. 

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Nastasha was already in the room, hanging Argo's vest back on the closet door, when he walked in. 

"You were shivering..." he said as he walked up to her, his huge footsteps not as loud as they usually were. She nodded quietly and turned to face him.  
"Yes, thank you..." she replied quietly, then turned to leave the room. She had forgotten about her injured ankle and set in hard on the floor when she turned, gaving a sudden yelp as she started to slip towards the ground. Argo caught her in his huge hands before she hit the ground, and she looked up at him in surprise. He lifted her up in his massive arms, then hesitated slightly before carefully setting her back down. He kept a hand on her back, just to be careful. 

"Can you do something for me," he said abruptly. She looked up at him with a bit of surprise and a bit of interest, and nodded.   
"Next time you need help, don't be afraid of asking me. I don't want to see you get hurt again." 

Nastasha's eyes flashed with surprise- she had never heard him say anything like that to her, especially with such a serious voice. She looked up into his grey eyes, expecting to see them staring back at her with their granite-like surface. But instead of a rock-hard stare, it was a softened and worried look. Almost a plea. 

She stepped forward and let herself fall into his torso, placing her hands on his chest as he wrapped his huge arms around her tightly, one of his hands resting on the back of her head. She closed her eyes as he curled his fingers in her hair, and took a deep breath. The embrace was probably the most intimate thing that had ever happened between them. 

"I promise." 

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FLUFF!!! Guess that's what happens when you try to write a fanfic while listening to 'Just Breathe' by Faith Hill. Well this is turning out to be the longest fanfic I've ever written (mostly because I've only ever finished one fanfic before o_O) and so far I think it's going alright. PLEASE REVIEW!!!!! my reviews died down a little at the end of the last chapter, so I delayed the posting of this one... and it was also delayed because I didn't write this chapter all in one sitting like the other three. On a side note, l'amour jeune means young love. Hope everyone enjoyed it, and I repeat, **REVIEW!!!!**


	5. Confessions

Let me just start out by saying I love my reviewers :-D!!! I'm glad people enjoyed the fluff, I was wondering how it would go over. I've really enjoyed writing for Argo and Nastasha, and since I have yet to see a fic about them, I thought it was appropriate to add in a little more about them than I was planning to. Sorry that I didn't update for a while, I spent the night at afriends house and got barely any sleep, plus I have had a terrible case of writer's block!! -_- 

Sorry that this fic doesn't have very many Domon/Rain moments in it... idunno why but I can't write for them in this one very well. I wrote a little one-shot about them the other day ('It's About Time!' ...GO READ IT!) but in this fic it just isn't flowin. 

Well anyway, I'm not quite sure of whats going to happen in this chapter. I have a general idea, but I'm sure it will turn out different than I expected. Enjoy, and, as always, review :) 

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"Then it's settled. We shall attack tonight, at midnight." the sinister voice of Michelo Chariot hissed. He and four others were seated around a table in Chibodee's warehouse, admiring the captured Gundams. A single light shone down on the table they were seated at, but only Michelo sat far enough forward to be seen. His neck and fingers were covered in scaley DG cells, and his eyes were bloodshot, but it was easy to see that he had grown much stronger. 

"It had been three long years, but finally, my revenge will be realized." he sneered, wringing his hands and uttering another laugh. "I can't wait to see the look on his face when I kill his mechanic!"  
The three figures next to him nodded in agreement, the two on his left leaning forward into the light.  
"I, too, have been waiting years to see the look of ultimate pain on the face of my enemy. George de Sand will die tomorrow night at the stroke of twelve." Jean-Pierre Mirabeau's face was almost green, the red makeup he wore on his face running. It was sickly sight to say the least. The figure next to him, Gentle Chapman, had the same dead, mossy grean eyes that he had during the 13th Tournament. The man was a walking corpse. 

A terrible cackle emitted from the figure sitting next to Mirabeau and echoed throughout the entire warehouse. The deranged Romario Monini held a picture of Chibodee at arm's length, pointing at it, as his artificial head bouncing around on his neck due to his insane laughter.  
"I'm coming for you Chi-bo-dee!" he shouted between giggles. The last figure shook his head with disgust. 

"Sickening clown." his voice rumbled. He leaned into the light as well, showing himself to be a DG cell-infested Andrew Graham. "You can have your fun with the Neo-American, just don't touch Argo Gulskii. His life will end by my hands, and no one elses. I must thank you, Michelo, for helping me re-realize my one goal of killing the Neo-Russian." he said, looking down at his scaley hands. "I now have the strength to carry out my wishes." 

Michelo's face cracked a thin smile as he looked at his new comrades, but his eyes then wandered to a pale figure that was slumped against a dark wall of the warehouse. Michelo's eyes suddenly flares red, and the figure screamed hoarsely, as if in terrible pain. 

"You might as well stop fighting it, Hans. The DG cells are directly linked to my mind and soul-anything I wish them to do, they will do. And right now I wish them to poison your mind and tell you to kill your sister, and then Sai Saici of Neo China." he said with a grin. "It was quite handy that your sister developed such a close relationship with that pilot, actually. You have to power to kill her, and when she is dead, Sai Saici's heart will be torn in two. I do admit that I have no personal vendetta against that kid, but he has become incredibly strong in the past three years. If we allowed him to live, he may interfere with our future plans." He threw his legs on the table and leaned back in his chair, beaming with vanity.  
"Isn't it a beautiful plan that I have come up with? Killing the women that the pilots love with kill them emotionally and give us all the pleasure of seeing those wonderful looks of ultimate pain. And then we get to kill them." He let his legs fall off the table and sat back upright. His face curled into a terible grin. 

"I must say, I am very excited." 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"Ok, everyone know their parts?" Domon asked as he leaned over the table. Everyone had gathered in the ship's kitchen and was seated at the table, looking over a large map of the general area. The pilots nodded to his question, all going over their particular role in their head. The plan was set- tomorrow morning, they would storm the warehouse and try to retrieve the three Gundams that were being held there. 

Nastasha looked up at the clock- it was 10:30 p.m.  
"We need to get some sleep before the morning, so I suggest we all turn in for the night." Everyone nodded and stood up, beginning to disperse from the room. 

"Hey, wait a sec you guys." Domon suddenly said. "This fight isn't going to be like what we're used to." He began with a serious voice. "These guys aren't here to win a match- they're here to hurt us, probably to kill us." 

He squeezed Rain's hand as he spoke.  
"And I don't doubt they'll go for the girls too. So just be more careful than usual." 

Everyone nodded, feeling a little more solemn than they originally did, and retired to their own rooms. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Cecil quietly walked into the room as Sai followed, yawning lazily.  
"Geez, you'd think they could cut these things a little shorter for those of us who like sleep..." He began, but stopped when he saw that she was totally silent, just standing near his bed (the mattress on the ground), her back facing him. Moonlight poured into their room from the small window, shining down on her and casting a silvery glow over her whole body.  
"...Cecil?" 

"Sai..." she started quietly, not turning around to face him. He could see her hands tighten into fists at her side as her whole body tensed.  
"Right now, you're all that I have. If I were to loose you, I don't know how I could go on." 

She was silent for a moment, then continued on with a shaky voice.  
"You have to bring my brother back, Sai. But... but if you can't, then do me one thing. Just come back to me." 

She dropped her head and squeezed her eyes as tightly shut as she could, to keep the tears from spilling onto her cheeks. She stood stiffly in the moonlight, her shoulders shaking as she held back sobs. 

"You don't have to say anything. I just needed-"  
Cecil's head suddenly flung up and her eyes opened wide, the tears she was holding back sliding down her face. Her entire body was flooded with a wave of warmth as Sai stood behind her, pressing his body against hers. He hugged her tightly, one arm around her waist, the other just below her shoulders. He cradled her in his arms like that for a moment, until she wasn't so tense, then turned her around so she was facing him. He lifted a finger and wiped a tear off her cheek, smiling as his burghandy eyes shone like fire into her marine blue ones. 

"Cecil.." he said with a much softer version of his usual grin, "I'm never going anywhere. I will always be here for you, no matter what." 

_'He'll always be here for me, no matter what...'_  
she repeated in her mind, looking at him with wide, surprised eyes. Her face softened as she threw her arms around his neck and started to sob uncontrollably, letting him lower her so they were kneeling on the mattress next to them. She cried in his arms for a little while, then took a deep breath and looked back up at him with a smile. The worried look he had on his face was wiped away by her smile, and he smiled back at her. They both flopped down onto the mattress and pulled the two blankets over themselves, laying facing eachother. 

"Night Cecil." Sai said with a grin as he laid his hand on top of her own. 

"Night Sai." 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"That kid never ceases to amaze me." Domon said, smiling and shaking his head as he walked past Sai and Cecil's room. "a regular Don Juan..." 

He next passed by Marie and George's room to see them standing in the center, George holding Marie at the sides of her shoulders as she talked to him with a frown. 

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"George, please don't make me do this!" she pratically shouted, her voice angry but pleading as well. 

"Marie, these people are trying to kill me, and you as well. I failed to protect you last time, if I were to fail again it could mean your death!" He replied. She stared up at him with frustrated eyes. 

_'If I stay, I will be forcing George to protect me as well as fight the enemy, which could prove a fatal mistake... but can I just leave him here?!'_

"You will be much safer with your father, where his guards can protect you. Please, Marie..." he pleaded, looking down at her with worry. Marie looked back up at him, searching his eyes, then lowered her head and nodded weakly. 

"I will do as you ask, George." she said with a small voice.   
George looked down at her, surprised she had agreed, but relieved at the same time. 

_'I'm sorry Marie... but it's better this way. I can't stand to see you in danger...'_

"I'll call for your transportation... they should arrive here by midnight." 

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"There you are, Domon." Allenby said as Domon walked into his room. Rain, Allenby and Chibodee were all there, sitting on the two beds. Domon plopped down next to Rain and rested his forearms on his knees. He looked into his folded hands, running over the next day's attack plan in his head. 

"Hey, you ok?" Rain asked as she laid a hand on his back.  
"I just don't get it..." he shook his head, looking up at all of them. "Why hasn't the enemy attacked us by now? If all they want is revenge, then now is the perfect time. I'm sure they know that we're here..." 

Chibodee aquired the same serious look Domon had, also going over the situation. He had a point... why hadn't they been attacked yet? 

"Whatever the reason, it doesn't really matter, does it? We're set to attack them tomorrow morning... well, I guess you could say this morning." Allenby added. "It's ten to midnight." 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Nastasha walked back into the kitchen, deciding that since a good nights sleep was out of the question, she might as well look over the plans again. 

"You should go back to bed, you haven't gotten much sleep lately." Argo's voice spoke up, startling her. He was hovering over a coffee pot, pouring two cups of the dark brown liquid. 

She shrugged as he set a mug in front of her, already knowing she wasn't going anywhere.  
"I just haven't had time to sleep much." she said as she watched her face flicker in the ripples of coffee. Argo's reflection appeared behind hers after a moment, looking down into the coffee as well.  
"What about you?" 

He shrugged, taking a seat next to her.  
"I guess I'm a night owl." he replied. He pulled the map towards himself and started looking over the battle plans for the next day, though he wasn't paying much attention to what he saw. 

They both sat akwardly at the table for a while, taking sips of the coffee every once in a while as they sat in silence.   
_'This is ridiculous.'_ Nastasha frowned as she watched her reflection. _'We're acting like children...'_

"Nastasha."  
the sound of his voice startled her and she jumped a bit, but that didn't seem to phase him. Now he was staring into his reflection, the same stoic expression on his face. 

"I... I have to tell you, that-" 

But his sentence was cut by the sudden ring of an alarm as a red light flashed overhead. 

"We're under attack?!" Nastasha asked in alarmed surprise. Her question was soon answered when the ship rocked to the side and an explosion shook the walls, sending them both to the ground. The both jumped to their feet and Nastasha moved to run towards the other pilots, but Argo grabbed her arm before she could. 

"Wait, I need to tell you-" he started, but she cut him off and smiled.  
"I know Argo, I know." she said with a smile, and they quickly kissed before bolting off in opposite directions, a second explosion tipping the ship soon after. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Domon threw out an arm and caught Rain as she fell off the bed when the first explosion hit. 

"Guess we know why they haven't attacked yet!" Chibodee exclaimed as he and Allenby started for the door. The second explosion sent them all towards the floor, but Domon grabbed Rain again and Chibodee managed to get between Allenby and the ground. 

Nastasha suddenly exploded through the door, holding onto the door frame for support.  
"Chibodee, Allenby, follow me!" she shouted above the noise. They nodded and ran out the door with her as Domon and Rain followed, both calling fourth their Gundams. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"What the...?!" Sai exclaimed as her jerked up in bed, whipping his head in the direction of the explosion. He stood up, taking Cecil with him, and pulled her towards the door. 

Nastasha met them their, with Chibodee and Allenby behind her.  
"We could use an escort," Chibodee said as he pulled Sai out the door. "we've got to go get the Gundams out of the warehouse- Rain and Domon can't hold them off for long, and we don't know where the hell George went, or even where Marie Louise is."  
"Cecil, you'll have to go in the cockpit with Sai Saici. It's the safest place for you right now." Nastasha instructed as the all took off towards the hallway, Sai Saici calling out the Dragon Gundam on the way. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"I'm sorry..." George started, holding her hands in his own. The two were standing outside, a good distance fom the ship, waiting for her limo to come. She looked down to her side and shook her head.  
"No, you're right." she said with a sad smile. "Now go back inside, you need to sleep before tomorrow." 

He frowned and nodded his head, then moved to kiss her forehead, but she pulled away as her eyes welled up and she backed away. The limo's headlights appeared behind her and the driver beeped the horn.  
"Please George, don't." she said sadly. He looked at her with surprise, then frowned and slowly turned to leave, sticking his hands in his pockets. 

_'I have to do this... she is in danger as long as she's near me.'_ George said to himself as he walked back to the ship. He was a third of the way to the entrance when something screamed over his head and slammed into the ship, bursting into a blossom of flames. A fast, hot wind blew over him in wake of the explosion, whipping at his hair and cape. 

_'They're attacking?!'_  
A second explosion ripped through the air soon afterwards. He squinted his eyes against the hot light and brought and arm up over his eyes to shield them. 

The sound of squealing tires cut through the air behind him, and George whipped around to watch the limo tear off down the road. 

After that, everything seemed to happen in slow motion. A third missile tore above him, diving through the air towards the limo. It exploded into the ground directly behind it, totally destroying the back end and sending the remainder of the car tumbling end over end. George was blown backwards by the blast, landing hard on his shoulder when he hit the cement. He sat up shakily, gripping his shoulder, until his eyes widened in realization. 

"**MARIE LOUISE!**" 

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::evil cackles:: I am so mean. Sorry guys, couldn't help the cliffhanger. I think I've conquered my writers block, so next chapter should be better than this one. I feel this one kinda sucked, sorry bout that folks. Hey, I gotta tell you something... 

Are you ready? 

**_REVIEW!!!!!!!_**


	6. Battle Royale

Hmmm... before I start anything, let me rant about episode 38 (dubbed) and episode 49 (original). This is the first time I heard Argo's dubbed voice in a WHILE, and the first time I heard it I wasn't really listening, because I wasn't interested in the series yet. I don't like his dub voice. At all. It's much too high, and when he attacks he yodles. Maybe it's just because I'm used to the deep, rumbling voice Ugaki Hidenari gives him... I personally think they should have swapped the VA's of Argo and Andrew Graham. As for episode 49... only one thing bugs me. (SPOILER ALERT... kinda.) Domon says his whole long speech (totally love that scene, Seki Tomokazu rocks) and tells Rain he loves her, and note this, he is not wearing a cape. Rain shoots out from the cockpit, he whips the cape out from behind his back and jumps up to catch her. Now, I know that it would be mean to leave poor Rain nude for the rest of the episode, but it bugs me when anime characters produce things from behind their back/the middle of nowhere. Grrr. 

Well I feel better. Now end the angry rants. 

Due to a paper that's due tomorrow morning, this chapter is shorter than I wanted it to be... though I do believe it is written better than Chapter 5 was, that one sucked badly! I'm going to go back and edit it later, I'll tell you when I do so you can re-read it, and hopefully, like it better! I'm also sorry for the cliffhanger, but I couldn't resist! ::grins evilly:: (on a side note, I don't know what to call the little screen that pops up in the cockpit when the pilots talk to eachother, so I'm calling it an intercom ^_^ ) 

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_'No... I'm sorry, I just can't!'_

Marie shook her head at the limo driver as it pulled up, then watched as it slowly pulled away, feeling relieved but also worried.  
_'George will be angry with me for staying... but I can't just leave like this, knowing he could be killed!'_ she thought as she watched him walk back to the ship, not looking back. She spotted a tree a couple yards away, and went to stand behind it until he got back into the ship. _'I'll just stay here for a little bit... I need to think of a way to explain myself...'_

Her thoughts were cut short when the missiles slammed into the ship, sending a hot breeze over her face and through her hair and dress. She held her hand up to her face to block the bright light, then turned on her heel as she saw another missile approaching from the sky, this time coming close to her. She hugged the tree as it wailed past her, and ducked instinctively when it burst into the ground behind the car and sent the vehicle tumbling.  
Marie gasped when she caught sight of the back of the car- she could only imagine what would have become of her, had she left as she was supposed to. 

"**MARIE LOUISE!**" 

A terrible cry roared through the air- it was of pure pain and sorrow. Marie whipped her head around to see George, standing stiffly as he stared into the blazing car, then suddenly bursting forward towards the flames, screaming her name. He had almost reached it when he was forced to stop, the flames suddenly growing and the car threatening to explode. 

He stood for a moment, watching it burn with a look of pure shock, then collapsed to his hands and knees. His fingers curled on the pavement, scratching their surface and causing some to become so scraped they bled. 

She began running towards him, watching as he began to mumble under his breath. 

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"no... no this isn't possible..."   
George muttered as he gripped the rough concrete as hard as he could. He began shaking his head, not believing what he had witnessed.  
"She's fine, she's fine..." he continued, starting to shiver, and staring wide-eyed at the ground beneath him as it began to shine with water from his eyes. He tried to refuse the truth of the situation, but the tears that were leaking from his eyes forced him to believe it. 

_'Marie Louise, you can't do this! There are so many things... so many things that I haven't said, haven't done...'_ he began, throwing his hands to his head and holding it tightly at the sides. _'I didn't kiss you goodbye, I didn't even hold you...'_ He squeezed his eyes shut as tightly as he could, feeling the soreness as his tears burned in his eyes. _'Marie Louise, I never even told you...'_

"George!" 

Her voice washed over him as if it had brought him back to life. His head jerked up and he flew from the ground at the sound of her voice, his mind still buzzing with the thoughts of him losing her. 

"I'm right here, it's alright..." she said in a soothing voice as she approached him. He stared at her with a look of shock, then burst forward and flung his arms around her entire torso, arms and all, and held on as if his life depended on it. He nuzzled his head into her hair and took a deep breath, instantly being calmed by the fragrance she always wore. 

He was at a total loss of words, so Marie spoke up for him. 

"The ship... we have to go help the others." she said after a moment. He nodded and released her, looking at her with a pale but smiling face. His response to her statement wasn't quite what she expected. 

"When we return to Neo France," he started, holding her hands and looking into her eyes. "I am telling your father that I will be marrying his daughter." 

Marie gasped.  
_'Oh George...'_

"And there is nothing he could ever do to stop me." 

Marie's arms flung around George's neck and she kissed him, happier than she had ever been in her entire life. They broke apart and George immediatly called for the Rose Gundam, which soon appeared in front of them. He swept her off her feet and carried her into the cockpit, then prepared to take off. The two lifted from the ground just as the Mirage Gundam appeared on the horizon, glowing eerily in the light of the moon... 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"Domon, we can't fight them here! There are too many people around, someone is going to get hurt!" Rain shouted over the intercom as she pulled back the string of her huge bow, preparing to fire at an approaching Gundam. The enemies bird-like silouette shone against the moonlight as it soared through the air, shots cascading down from it's underside.  
_'That Gundam... thats the...?!'_

"Michelo Chariot. Why am I not surprised?" Domon said as his face twisted into the pissed-off look that everyone around him was accustomed to. The enemy pilot cackled over the intercom as another barrage of shots rained down on the two Gundams.  
"Domon Kasshu, you should not be surprised. It was only a matter of time before I found the perfect way to execute my revenge on you and the rest of that shuffle scum!"   
His appearance was disgusting- his eyes glowed red and his hair stuck to the clammy surface of his face. 

"I must say, it was quite a stroke of genius, this plan I came up with. Kill the women that the pilots love, and they will shatter to pieces right before our very eyes. Then, as they wallow in their sorrow, kill them." he laughed terribly as a missile fired at Rising Gundam, sending it into a wall of the ship as Domon called out Rain's name.  
"That little french princess has already fallen victim to our plan. I'm sure Mirabeau is having fun playing with Monsieur de Sand as we speak." 

"You bastard..." Domon said hoarsely as he helped Rain up, his voice drenched with rage. He flicked a switch in the cockpit that allowed him to speak only to her.  
"Rain, it's too dangerous for you to fight. You have to get out of the Rising Gundam now!" he shouted as another wave of fire shot at them. He turned so his Gundam was in front of hers and took all the shots to the back, a pained look on his face.  
"Domon!" she shouted as his black suit lit with red circuitry, sending the pain signals through his body. He shook his head and smiled up at her.  
"I'm fine, but hurry!" 

Rain opened the cockpit of Rising Gundam and jumped from it's cockpit into the cockpit of the God Gundam. 

"Now, head that way." Rain said as she pointed to a treeline in the distance. "There won't be any civilians there."  
Domon nodded and obeyed, controlling the Gundams movements as it flew towards their battle ground. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"Sai, watch your six!"  
Chibodee's voice was barely audible, coming from the car racing below the Dragon Gundam. From behind Sai Saici, three Gundams appeared, and quickly started to catch up. 

"Can't you guys go any faster down there?! I don't want to have to fight all three!" He shouted from the cockpit of Dragon Gundam. Cecil stood behind him, squinting to try and make out which Gundams were approaching them.  
"The leading Gundam is from Neo England," Cecil said over her shoulder as they sped towards the warehouse.  
"Behind it is Jester Gundam of Neo Portugal, and the last one..."  
Cecil gasped as the saw a blue, fish-like tail whip at the sky, propelling the Gundam forward. Her face became neutral, but her eyes were determined, and shone an inner fire that the rarely revealed. 

"...and the last one is my brother." 

_'Hans...'_ she thought as she watched the Gundam zip through the sky. _'we're going to free you. I promise!'_

The attacking Gundams burst forward, spraying the Dragon Gundam with bullets as it shielded the car. Chibodee peered into the distance, watching as the top of a large building approached.  
"Hang in there Sai, we're almost there!" 

The car finally reached the warehouse and the three jumped out, scrambling towards the Gundams. Chibodee and Allenby flung themselves into the cockpits of Maxter and Nobel, and the eyes of the two Gundams soon glowed green as they awoke. 

The eyes of the Bolt Gundam soon lit up as well, and Allenby and Chibodee turned, surprised, to see Nastasha controlling it.  
"Lead them to the field Rain spoke of, quickly!" she shouted through the intercom, then blasted through the door of the warehouse, taking off towards the ship. Allenby and Chibodee nodded and took off in the opposite direction, towards the field that God Gundam and Gundam Heaven's Sword had already arrived at. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"Well this should be easier. Killing you both at once will save me time, though it dissapoints me that I won't get to kill the girl first and watch you suffer." Michelo shrugged as he drew his weapon. "No matter. As long as you are dead and cannot interfere with our plans." 

Michelo struck at Domon's shoulder, sending sparks flying from the Gundam and flashes of red light through Domon's MTS suit.  
"Michelo, just what are you planning to do?" Domon asked angrily as he clutched his shoulder. Michelo laughed menacingly, and suddenly the DG cells began to multiply, crawling over his body and infecting the small patches of peach skin that were left.  
"At first, our plan was simply to gain revenge against the shuffle alliance. But once we found this power..." he looked at his cell-infested hands and curled them into fists. "We figured we may as well put it to good use. Once you all are dead, we will conquer Earth, and all of space."

To Michelo's surprise, Domon began to chuckle. 

"Michelo, you will never succeed." 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"Hey Chib, Domon has already started his fight!" Allenby shouted through the intercom. Chibodee nodded as he watched the battle ensue in front of him.   
"Yea... but where are those Gundams that were following us? We didn't lose them did we?" 

He was soon answered when two Gundams flashed in front of Maxter and Nobel, then simultaneously knocked them to the ground. Chibodee struggled to sit up, flinching when he saw who his opponent was. He shook his head and looked at the opponent darkly.. 

"Romario," he spit. "I should have known."  
The clown laughed insanely, and his Gundam's head bobbled around with glee. 

The clown's voice leaked into Chibodee's cockpit, but it did not yet show its face.  
"Right you are, Chibodee. I've come back for you. Only this time, I have a new trick." 

The clowns artificial face popped onto the screen in Chibodee's cockpit, right in front of him. The sickly mask it always wore was scaley and ashen, festering with DG cells. "I have strength that you will never match!" 

"God, that thing is nasty!" Allenby commented as the clown's face appeared in her cockpit as well. 

"You shouldn't be worrying about that, girl. You'll have your own troubles soon enough." 

Allenby closed her eyes and smiled as she spoke with an insolent tone to Chapman.  
"Well if it isn't the dead man walking. Don't tell me you're **still** alive." 

He grinned back at her, his eyes dripping with red energy.  
"Guess I'm just a stubborn little bugger, aren't I." he chuckled. "I'm afraid I'm not the one you should be throwing death jokes at, girl. You'll soon meet your end by my hands." 

And the two battles began. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Argo stood outside the ship, his slick hair being thrown in all directions as the Bolt Gundam's artificial wind kicked up around him. Nastasha landed the machine right next to him and lowered it to one knee, so Argo could jump in. He landed in the open cockpit with ease, and the MTS suit was soon on the pilot. 

"Argo Gulskii!" a voice roared from behind him as metal buckled and an enemy Gundam bashed into the Bolt Gundam, causing Argo and Nastasha to slam into the ground. The voice sounded again as its fists slammed into the Gundam, littering Bolt's sides with huge craters and dents. 

"Andrew..." Argo slowly stood, helping Nastasha up as well, and stared into the glowing green eyes of the enemy Gundam. "Why Andrew, why are you doing this?!" 

"Because I finally have the strength to defeat you, Argo of Neo Russia. Michelo Chariot helped me remember my rage for you I lost after the 13th Tournament, and gave me the power to kill you and finally avenge my wife!"  
The enraged Andrew burst towards them for another attack, but Argo dodged it and took off for the field, noticing the bright lights of battle that already lit the area. 

"Argo, he isn't completely infected yet. We may still be able to cure him..."  
Nastasha turned to look behind them, watching as the Neo Canadian fired at them. Too few of the shots connected for it to be a coincidence.  
"See there. He is deliberately missing those shots."  
He let out a terrible battle cry, sounding angry and pained at the same time. 

_'Andrew... he must be fighting with himself to win back control. If we don' help him soon, he could become totally devoured by the DG cells...'_

"We will cure him."  
Nastasha looked up at Argo as he put a huge hand on her opposite shoulder. He landed the Gundam in the field, opposite the Lumber Gundam, and took a fighting stance as it charged forward, all the fury and rage that Andrew had ever felt materializing into a terrible onslaught of attacks... 

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Well folks, it's nearing the end! I'm pleased with it thus far, and I have high hopes for the ending. If you review enough when the story's done, I might even throw in an epilogue :-p As for next chapter... well, I feel some very large, very corny attacks coming on... 


	7. just a note

Hey folks, chapter 7 is in production, but it's so dang long that it's going to take me a little longer than usual. Also, since it's the last chapter (sobs), I want to take the time to review it a couple of times and add stuff. 

Anyway, I'd like to take this chance to thank all my reviewers, new and old, and especially Anthony, Lina567 and Black Joker Lady. You three never failed to review my new chapters, and your reviews were often the deciding factors of the next chapter!   
Anthony, you always let me know what the reader knew, and what I needed to clear up! It's always good having a reviewer to keep you on track, so thank you!!   
Black Joker Lady, you encouraged me to include more on Argo and Nastasha, and I am SOOO glad I did!! The G Gundam fanbase doesn't hear about them much, so I'm glad I contributed to that.   
And Lina567... well, being an avid George/Marie Louise fan myself, I am afraid that your awesome reviews further encouraged me to add even more fluff about them than I anticipated. Oh darn! (hehehe :P) So again, to all my reviewers, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!! I may come back and write an epilogue... but thats only if I get lots of reviews ::evil grin:: so REVIEW! 

Chapter 7 will definetly be done by the end of the week, probably sooner. I'll try to keep you from waiting too long! Again, thank you all for reading, I hope you'll like the end!! 

**~* Emma *~**


	8. Owari

::looks up with huge dark circles around her eyes and an empty coffee mug in her hand::  
kyaa... so tired... stayed up extremely late to finish this bugger... dakedo, I think it was worth it! :D Who was I kidding, saying I'd finish it by the end of the week? I got so excited that I sat down and finished it like 4 hours after I wrote that note! :-p 

But wow... it's ending guys! :'( And since this is the last chapter, I have tried really really REALLY hard to make it good!! It's actiony, it's romancy, and I feel everyone is in character. This one definetly took me the longest, mostly because it IS the longest. Heck, it passed up chapters 1,2 and 5 by the time I was done with the second scene. This fic is definetly my pride and joy, so I hope it's ending meets all your expectations. I have two other G Gundam fix, both on ff.net, but I don't think they are nearly as good as this one has turned out. The first one I wrote is called Retour de Passé, it's a G/ML fic, and the second is It's About Time about Domon and Rain. So if you're interested, they're there. 

Again, sorry that chapter 5 sucked. I also don't think chapter 6 was all that great... but the failure of those two chapters can be attributed to chapter 4. I had a sudden burst of ideas that I poured into chapter 4, but then I realized I had nowhere to go from there o_O Chapter 4 is definetly my favorite, though, and contains my favorite scene, the George/Marie Louise bedroom-fluff thing ^_^ I like the Argo and Nastasha scene as well, I think that is the show's writers were going to play out a mushy scene with those two, it'd run similar to that. Not too mushy, but definetly enough to give the reader tangible evidence that they are going to hook up ^_^ (and no, not necessarily THAT way! bad reader, bad!) 

Just so you know, the first 5 scenes are happening simultaneously, as are the last 5. Scene 11 just sorta happens on it's own ^_^ **Also, during scenes 6-10, I suggest listening to the Shining Finger theme or Gundam Assult (though I'm not sure this is even a G Gundam BGM o_O). I personally prefer the Shining Finger theme, but I think both work well. Turn it down low, that way it sounds like a BGM! ^_^** Sorry this top note was so dang long, but I wanted to get everything out so I don't have to talk at the bottom of the chapter and ruin the mood. 

I can gurantee you right now that there will be an epilogue coming up after this chapter. In fact, since it has been in such a high demand, I think I'm going to take a shot at writing a sequel to this fic, set during the 14th Tournament. And who knows, three awesome reviewers ::cough lina567bjlanthony cough:: may even find themselves as characters, if they're willing to let it happen! ;) 

Without further adieu, (...is that the way that saying goes?) Here is the conclusion, the finale, the END of **14th Fight All Set!** Happy reading! 

****************************************************************** 

"Did the others make it to the battle ground ok?" Sai shouted over his shoulder, his voice barely cutting through the loud sound of battle. Ahead of Dragon Gundam, Domon, Chibodee and Allenby were already locked in battle with their opponents. Behind it, Hans Holgar fired a barrage of missiles and bullets. They hit hard, sending stinging signals into Sai as he gritted his teeth and looked up painfully into the attacking enemy. The aqua-haired pilot uttered a terrible battle cry as he flew forward and slammed into the Dragon Gundam, sending it forcefully into the ground, along with it's two passengers. 

"Cecil?! Are you alright?" Sai stood up slowly and moved quickly over to her, helping her stand up. Cecil nodded and smiled up at him.  
"I'm fine Sai..." she said as she stood, holding onto his shoulders to pull herself up. The Mermaid Gundam loomed over the two, and Hans' voice chuckled evilly down at them. 

"Sai, we have to hurry.. he is slipping, I can feel it in his attacks! They are powerful, but lack his skill... if we don't cure him soon, the DG cells will totally control him..."   
The Mermaid Gundam dove from the sky and swept by for another attack, causing Sai's yellow MTS suit to burn with electric pain. He cried out and fell to his knees as Cecil caught him, feeling some of the signals travel through the suit to her as well. 

"Cecil, no, you'll get hurt as well!" he moved out of her reach and stood on his own feet, though shakily. "I don't want you getting hurt Cecil, so please, you can't help me!" 

_'I have to protect her... Hans, I promise you, and I promise myself, I will protect her!'_

The moon broke through the clouds behind Mermaid Gundam, casting an eerie silver glow over the machine. Hans stood in the Gundam's cockpit, his body relaxed and his eyes burning and blank. Roaring a cry of pure rage, the Mermaid Gundam slammed into the torso of Dragon Gundam and sent it into the ground a second time. 

The cockpit's inhabitants flew into the ground as well, hitting it hard. Sai's head hit first and bounced before settling limply on the hard surface. Blood trickled slowly from the spot that hit, and his eyes tightened shut, then relaxeas he lost conciousness.   
Cecil pushed herself from the ground and pulled herself over to him. 

"Sai Saici!" she knelt down by his side, carefully lifting his head and placing it in her lap. 

"Oh Sai..." she whispered, looking sadly down at the pilot as he calmly rest in her hands. Cecil reached down and tore a piece of fabric from her clothes, then wrapped it around the wound on his head. She looked down at him once more, than lifted her head and stared into the glowing eyes of Mermaid Gundam. 

"I'm sorry Sai, I know you don't want me to help, but I have to try..." she said quietly, with a soft smile on her face. She carefully set him back down on the cold ground, then lightly kissed his forehead.   
"I just can't loose you, Sai." 

Cecil walked over to the entrance of the cockpit and opened the door, jumping out of it and standing on the Dragon Gundam's metallic surface. 

"Brother!" she shouted at the hovering Mermaid Gundam. It's eyes flashed at the sight of her. 

_'By now, I know there is no way for me to reach him all by myself... but maybe I can distract him long enough fo Sai to recover. If he were to be attacked right now, he could be killed...'_   
Her thoughts trailed off as Mermaid Gundam cut through the air and swept down at her. Cecil yelped in surprise and jumped from the Gundam's body, narrowly missing the Mermaid Gundam's outstretched hand.  
As soon as she hit the ground, Cecil took off running, trying to get as far away from Dragon Gundam as she could. 

_'This is too slow, I need to get farther away!'_ She thought frantically. She sped up, but a rock caught her foot and she flew to the ground, hitting it hard and twisting her ankle. She clenched her teeth and held the injured foot tightly, watching helplessly as the Mermaid Gundam reached out a huge metallic hand and scooped her up in it. It held her like a rag doll, her arms stuck tightly to her sides and her feet dangling loosely through the bottom of the machine's cold, stiff grip. Cecil shut her eyes tightly, then screamed out painfully as the Gundam began to squeeze. 

_'Sai... Saici...!'_

"**NO!!**" 

The arm of the Mermaid Gundam burst apart with a terrible, burning explosion as Dragon Gundam sliced it off clean. The hand loosened and Cecil slipped out the bottom, falling limply towards the ground. Sai Saici dove under her and caught her softly in his hand, then burst out of the cockpit and dashed over to her, the Mermaid Gundam growling angrily in the background as it clutched the place where the arm had been sliced off. 

"Cecil, Cecil please!" Sai begged as he scooped her up in his arms, looking down at her with shocked, scared eyes.   
"CECIL!" 

_'Cecil, you have to be alright... I can't loose you!'_

Cecil cringed, but didn't open her eyes. Sai's gaze flew up to Mermaid Gundam, and his eyes held so much rage that the aqua-haired pilot took a step back. 

"Hans..." his voice was low and dark. "Hans HOW COULD YOU?!" he roared, clutching Cecil protectively in his arms. He looked angrily into the Mermaid Gundam's eyes, then shook his head. "No... this isn't your doing... but...!" 

Cecil slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Sai Saici. His eyes still burned, but they shone with tears that were both angry and full of anguish. 

"Please... don't be mad." she said quietly. Sai's head jerked down to look at her in surprise. "But... he would have attacked you, and if he had done that..." 

"Cecil..." 

The Mermaid Gundam had stopped gripping it's wound and was now on it's feet, leaning back and preparing to strike. Sai stood up, still holding Cecil protectively in his arms. He jumped back into the cockpit with her and stood facing the enemy. 

"Cecil, I can't loose you." he suddenly spoke. She looked up at him in question.  
"You told me that if I were to leave you, you wouldn't be able to go on. Well, if I lost you, neither would I." 

Cecil stared up at him as he looked down at her with worry and an emotion she didn't recognize coming from him... 

"Sai, I will never leave you." She said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself closer to him. He grinned down at her then set her down, keeping his arm around her shoulder as she kept hers around his neck. 

"Now, it's time to end this!" He shouted. The Mermaid Gundam stood across from him, 

The two stood facing eachother, their sides turned to the Mermaid Gundam. 

"Brother, we will cure you!" Cecil yelled to the Mermaid Gundam. "Together, we will cure you." 

Sai smiled down at Cecil, then the two closed their eyes tightly. A flood of golden energy poured over the Dragon Gundam, and shone brightly onto everything around it. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"Gravitron HAMMER!"  
The huge weight flung through the air and smashed into the Lumber Gundam, denting it's front and sending it hurling towards the ground. Andrew stayed down for a moment, but slowly rose to his feet soon after, grinning at Bolt Gundam. 

"Damn..." Argo frowned as Lumber Gundam stood up.  
Nastasha walked over to Argo and stood next to him, peering at Lumber Gundam through her glasses.  
"He seems to be getting stronger as you fight, how is that possible?" 

Argo's frown deepened.  
"The DG cells in his body must be multiplying, that is the only explination." he replied gravely.  
_'If this keeps up, I will be defeated. But...'_ Argo looked down to see Nastasha standing in front of him, watching the Lumber Gundam as it prepared to attack. _'But if I fail, Nastasha will be killed... I cannot allow that!'_

"Argo, watch out!" Nastasha yelled. The huge pilot looked up just in time as Lumber Gundam sprung forward and smashed into Bolt Gundam. Argo instinctively brought his arms up to his chest and blocked the attack, but the sheer power of it was staggering- even with Argo's incredible strength, the attack could not be blocked.  
Bolt Gundam flew backwards, Argo yelling out in pain as the attack finally connected. Bolt Gundam slapped into the ground, sending both of it's occupants towards the earth's surface as well.  
Nastasha clenched her eyes shut tightly, anticipating the shock of pain that would run through her body as she hit, but opened them in surprise as two hands enveloped her waist, and instead of hitting the ground, she was pulled into Argo's torso and her fall was broken. She looked up at him in alarm as his hold on her loosened and his hands fell to his side. His eyes fell shut, and the stoic expression that was often on his face settled in as his head fell to the side and he totally lost conciousness. 

"Argo!"  
Nastasha slid off his chest and sat by his side, gingerly lifting his head and sliding a hand under as much of his broad shoulders as she could. "Argo, wake up!"   
She leaned down and loomed over his face, watching it carefully for a moment.   
"I said wake up!"  
Nastasha clenched her teeth, then suddenly found herself yelling at him the way she used to, when he was the prisoner and she was simply his guard.   
"What do you think you're doing, saving me like that?!" she shouted, frowning angrily at him as he simply lay in her hands. "You big jerk... why did you have to do that?!"  
Her frown began to fade from angry to worried as she watched his unchanging face. It looked placid, but she knew he had been in pain.  
"You're never thinking about yourself, or how an outcome will affect you... all you think of is how you can help those you care about. Well you didn't do very well this time, because I would feel better if I were the one lying unconcious on the ground and not you!" 

_'Argo... you're simply too kind for all of this...!'_

Andrew's voice bleeped in through the intercom, and the digital screen he watched them through filled up the front of Bolt Gundam's cockpit. "Don't worry, girl." his voice was monotone and emotionless. "I'll make it quick. I was planning on killing you first, but seeing that he won't be awake to see your death, I might as well get rid of him." Andrew's voice echoed in Nastasha's head for a moment, then the Lumber Gundam ran forward as shots fired from the duel guns on it's head. 

Nastasha lifted Argo's head onto her lap, then carefully leaned over him and wrapped her hands over the receptors on his shoulders. 

_'If I can relay some of the energy from the attack to myself, it might be enough to...!!'_  
Nastasha clenched her teeth as the attack hit, but the pain was soon too much and her back arched as she screamed out in pain. The Lumber Gundam passed by over head, then backed off as it prepared to make another sweep at them. 

"Argo..." Her voice was barely audible as she painfully lifted herself from Argo's torso, where she had fallen after the attack stopped. She bit her bottom lip and looked through her glasses at his still face for a moment, then her face changed into a look of determination. 

_'No. I don't care if he can't hear me...'_

"Hey..."   
her words slipped from her mouth more shaky than she anticipated, probably due to the painful electricity that still lingered through her body. "I... I'm so sorry."  
Her voice steadied itself as she spoke, and she found that if she spoke quietly, it stopped altogether. 

"For the longest time... I wouldn't let anyone get to know me. I enjoyed being unapproachable, because I knew that I was safe that way. If no one knew who I was, no one would know any of my weaknesses. I would be strong, and being strong is what I yurned for more than anything else. But when you can along... I didn't even need to open up to you. You saw through me anyway. And no one has ever done that before."  
She squeezed her eyes shut then opened them again, surrenduring to the tears that had begun to form there.  
"At first I thought that you had made me weak, but now I know that it's the opposite. You have only made me stronger." she paused a moment and smirked, realizing something.  
"In fact, you're the only thing I have to draw strength from. And I never told you what you told me... so I'm sorry." 

A small shower of fire washed over Bolt Gundam, sending burning slices of pain through Nastasha's arms to the rest of her body. She smiled weakly up at Argo, seeing that the MTS suit had barely reacted to the attack. 

"I really do love you, though." She said with a small, sad smile on her face. Nastasha pulled herself up closer to Argo's face and leaned over it, looked at him one more time, then leaned down and kissed him goodbye. She slowly pushed herself up, wincing as she grabbed the receptors again and felt the trickles of electricity that still leaked through them. She clenched her fists tightly around them and shut her eyes as the noise of Andrew's Lumber Gundam and his roaring voice drew nearer. 

_'I just hope he will be alright...'_

Shots ripped through the air, but nothing connected. 

Nastasha slowly looked up, confused, and her eyes widened as she saw a huge stone wall seperating the Bolt and Lumber Gundams. 

Argo's fist rested flat on the ground, and he used it to push himself to a sitting position, wrapping his other arm around Nastasha and taking her along with him. 

"Argo..."  
His huge hands lifted and covered her own, removing them from the receptors on his shoulders, his face smiling down at her the whole time. 

His voice was calm, but worried.   
"I said that I don't want to see you get hurt again."  
He linked one arm under her legs and the other around her back, then stood with ease, facing the large stone wall that he had created. Nastasha felt tiny in his arms. 

_'Heh... you're the only man on earth that could make me feel so small.'_ she said with a smirk as she looked up at him. 

"He mind hasn't been taken over, we may still be able to save him."  
Her voice had regained it's dictative sureness as she sat comfortably in Argo's huge arms, one of her hands on his shoulder and the other loosely resting against his chest. He nodded, watching carefully as the wall in front of them began to crumble, and then broke at the force of Lumber Gundam's fists acting on the opposite side. The Black Joker symbol flashed into existance on Argo's hand, and the light of Dragon Gundam's hyper mode suddenly shined over the area. 

Bolt Gundam followed suit, it's outer casing beginning glowing the warm golden color as the two in the cockpit took on the same glistening shine. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"Nobel... HOOP!" Allenby's high-pitched cry sounded in the air as she hurled her attack at Chapman, watching it do it's work. Chapman's Gundam stiffened as the attack hit, then crumpled to the ground.  
"Hey Chibodee, how you holdin up?" 

Chibodee stood over the fallen Jester Gundam, leering down at Romario. He grinned when Allenby spoke and looked up at her with a smirk.  
"You don't need to check up on me, Allenby, I'm doing just fine- behind you!"  
his hand flew up towards her as the John Bull Gundam grabbed her from behind, wrapping it's metallic arms completely around her smaller Gundam. Sparks flew as he began to squeeze, and the sound of crushing metal cracked all around Allenby. 

"L...Let go!" she shouted as she struggled to break free. She could feel the air slowly leaking from her, as if her lungs were a balloon he was trying to deflate. Chapman grinned evilly down at her and pressed harder. 

"Burning PUNCH!"  
Chapman's eyes went blank and his grip instantly loosened as his Gundam crashed into the ground. Chibodee stood next to Allenby, his left arm extended. 

"Are you alright?" he asked with worry, instantly moving forward and putting to hand on her waist, for fear she was going to collapse. Allenby looked up at him and nodded, a small smile on her face. 

"Yea I'm fine- what the...?!"  
Two evil chuckles rang out in the air, and Allenby and Chibodee turned to face each of them. They were now standing back to back, watching with wide eyes as the opponents they had attacked moments ago rose to their feet with ease. Both the Jester Gundam and John Bull Gundam no longer had glowing green eyes, but eyes of blood. 

"You've gotta be kidding me! He was completely out a minute ago!" a bewildered and angry Chibodee shouted. Romario simply giggled. 

Chapman's head tipped to the side a bit, and he grinned at Allenby. 

_'Something just isn't right here... they are growing stronger as we fight them.'_ she thought as she stared back at her opponent. _'if this keeps up, we'll be defeated! Unless...'_

Allenby looked up above her, at the metallic ring that lined the top of the cockpit. A small red switch labeled 'Berserker' sat on it, covered by a clear plastic case. Allenby's thoughts wandered to the Neo Sweden team, who had installed the switch in the cockpit. 

"It's just for emergency, in case you ever need to activate it." they had told her. Allenby had passionately denied that she would ever need it, but now... 

John Bull Gundam charged forward towards Allenby, and she barely missed the attack. 

_'This is the only way. I have to risk it!'_  
"Chibodee!" She shouted over her shoulder. Chibodee exchanged a blow with Jester Gundam, managing to knock it from it's feet.  
"Yea?"  
"Just back off for a little bit, ok? I'm starting up the Berserker System." 

Chibodee whipped around, his face surprised.  
"Are you nuts?! You know how you get when that thing's on!" 

Allenby frowned as Chapman's Gundam rose to it's feet, with more ease than it had after her previous attack. Jester Gundam did the same. 

"Look, we don't have a choice!" she argued. "I'm doing it!" 

Allenby reached up and took the case off of the switch, hesitated for a moment, then closed her eyes and flipped the switch. 

The familiar but hated feeling rushed through every corner of Allenby's mind, awakening every fighting technique she had ever learned, but blinding her from her sanity. Her hair lit pink and her eyes flooded red, a red similar to the red that was embedded in Chapman and Romario's eyes. 

"Allenby..." Chibodee whispered as he watched the scene play out before him. "Turn it off, Allenby!" 

Allenby sat in her cockpit, crumpled in a ball on the ground and holding her head tightly. Chibodee's voice didn't even register in her mind- she suddenly stood from the floor and turned to face both enemies, wearing a placid but terrible look. 

The Nobel Gundam suddenly jolted forward, so fast that it was invisible to the untrained eye. She spun her Beam Ribbon out in front of her like a cyclone and mowed down both the enemy Gundams, then landed gracefully behind them. 

Two explosions should have followed the hit to the ground that John Bull and Jester Gundam took, but instead, they both sprang from the ground and slammed into Nobel Gundam. 

"You underestimate us." Chapman stated in a monotone voice as Romario cackled in the background. They let go of Allenby and threw her to the ground in front of them, which she hit hard. Chapman turned to Romario and nodded at the clown, who promptly stood in front of Allenby. He drew his fist back, chuckling when Chapman moved behind her and pulled her from the ground, holding her up from behind. 

"Let's see how this works on ya! Machine gun... PUNCH!"  
The clown's high voice pierced the air and his fist rocketed right at Allenby's cockpit. She flung her arms over her face to protect it and squeezed her eyes shut, but let them fly open in surprise when she heard a pained groan. Maxter Gundam stood akwardly in front of her, sparks pouring from it's back. 

"heh... well at least I know my attack hurts..." he said, his words hoarse from the pain. Allenby whipped her head back and smashed Chapman in the face, then flung forward and helped Chibodee to the ground as he faltered. 

"Chibodee?! Hey, Chibodee!" she said in alarm, watching with worry as he painfully lifted his head and gave her a weak smirk. 

"I... really don't like that system." Chibodee replied with a nod of his head, motioning to the switch to the Berserker system. Allenby suddenly realized that the red glow that had washed over her when the Berserker system kicked in had faded, so she leaned up and flipped the switch off. 

"All that thing is is a cheat. You're a great fighter already, you don't need anything like that to make you strong."   
He looked up into her worried eyes and grinned, this time less painfully. Allenby smiled back at him, startling him when her eyes began to shine. 

"Hey, I'm fine, really..." he said, lifting an arm and flexing it to prove it to her. She laughed slightly, then leaned into him and hugged him tight. 

"I'm sorry, that was foolish of me to do."  
Chibodee smiled down at her and set his hand on her back, pulling her a bit closer. 

Behind them, Jester Gundam helped up the fallen John Bull Gundam. The sound of the machines moving caught Allenby and Chibodee's attention, and the two carefully stood up, helping one another. 

"I think I've had about enough of you two." Chibodee said angrily, his arm still around Allenby's back. She nodded and held a fist in front of her, grinning evilly at the enemies. 

As he spoke, the Queen of Spades symbol flashed on his fist, and Maxter Gundam began to emit the golden color of it's hyper mode. Two other gundams glowed a smilar color in the distance. 

Allenby watched in a bit of awe, smiling up at Chibodee when he looked down at her. 

_'He's so strong,'_ she thought with admiration. _'And he took that attack, just so I wouldn't be hurt... I won't let him to that again. I will be strong as well!'_

A stange, unfamiliar warmth seemed to wrap itself around Allenby. Nobel Gundam's outer plating began to change color, until it matched the golden color of it's hair. 

"This... this is Nobel Gundam's hyper mode!" her eyes were wide with surprise as she brought her hands up close to her face and turned them over a few times, admiring the gold shimmer they gave off. 

"This is what you are capable of without that system." Chibodee answered her comment. He took her hand in his and held it tight. 

"What say we finish this?" he grinned. His voice had regained its cocky enthusiasm, and Allenby nodded,also grinning at the enemy with determination. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"George de Sand. Comment t'allez vous?" the accented voice of Mirabeau floated through the air and struck George like a small insect, buzzing annoyingly near his ears. "You don't know how long I have looked forward to this." He grinned down at Gundam Rose as it's pilot frowned deeply. 

George clenched his fists tightly and glared icily into Mirabeau's eyes. The coldness his gaze held, something that Marie Louise had only seen when George was denied his battle with Domon, was a rare thing in the eyes of the cool-headed knight. 

"You have crossed me for the last time, Mirabeau." George spoke in a dark, quiet voice.  
The red-eyed frenchman in front of him simply laughed, spitting in George's direction. 

"That man... how is it possible for someone to be so terrible." Marie said, as a statement more than a question. George looked over his shoulder at her, smiling slightly at her angry, but still regal-looking face. 

_'I must defeat Mirabeau... but if the battle becomes too intense, Marie Louise could be harmed...'_

"Crossed you for the last time, have I?" the enemy cooed. "Monseiur knight, I have yet to begin with you, and you speak as though this will be our final bout. I am sorry to dissapoint you." 

Mirabeau suddenly lunged at George with a weapon that was new to the Mirage Gundam, but familiar to George. Two long spears cut through the air straight at Rose Gundam, which dodged enough of the attack so it was only grazed on the shoulder. 

"Fight me, George de Sand." Mirabeau taunted. George winced as he kneeled and cupped his hand over his burning shoulder. His eyes widened in surprise when he felt a soft material wrap around the wound and soothe the burning. 

"George, please be careful..." Marie said as she kneeled down next to him and wrapped the pink material around his arm. George looked down and saw that the dark pink top-layer of her dress was torn, and that the material she had ripped off was what she was binding his arm with. Mirabeau's face popped onto the intercom of Rose Gundam and looked down at the two with pure loathing. 

"Ah, if it isn't Madamoiselle Marie Louise." he said with an evil grin. "I really has been too long, princess. You certainly have grown up, haven't you?" Marie suddenly became aware that her legs were showing, due to the position she was sitting in, and that Mirabeau's gaze had landed straight on them. He slowly traveled up her body with his eyes, grinning wider when he saw the infuriated and afraid look on her face. 

"How... dare you!" she shouted, pulling her dress down over her legs. George had immediatly put himself in front of her and the image of Mirabeau, his eyes drenched with a fury so vicious it could have melted straight through Mirabeau, had he been standing right in front of George. 

"Mirabeau..." 

Marie nearly gasped when she heard his voice. It was hoarse with anger, and she could have sworn he had cursed Mirabeau under his breath. She reached a hand out towards him as the sudden rage consumed her knight, but withdrew it, thinking twice about her action. 

_'This isn't my George... what could have triggered this so suddenly? His anger will consume him if he continues like this, I fear what the outcome will be!'_

Mirabeau continued to smirk at George, throwing glances over at Marie every once in a while to further anger the knight.  
"What is the matter, George? Did I hit a nerve, perhaps?" he hissed, looking greedily over at Marie Louise as she stared up at him in surprise. 

_'Is that the reason for George's anger?!'_ She thought in surprise. She glanced back up at Mirabeau, then withdrew behind George as she felt the sickly-looking man undress her with his eyes.  
_'I had no idea... that something like this would anger him so much...!'_

"Prepare yourself." George hissed, standing so quickly that Marie barely had time to let go of the make-shift bandage. "Your eyes will never fall upon her again, Mirabeau, because you will not live long enough to repeat such a thing!" 

Marie's eyes widened in shock and horror.  
_'Oh please George, no...'_

"Then attack me!" The red-eyed enemy screamed delightfully. His Gundam's eyes suddenly began to glow deep red, and the very air around it seemed to shake with the emmense power it was generating. Rose Gundam stood it's ground, leaning forward slightly in anticipation of the attacks. 

Both Gundams suddenly lept at eachother simultaneously, ripping through the air around them. Mirage Gundam held it's spear out in front of it like a sword, and Rose Gundam's electric foil was gripped tightly in it's hand. Marie was amazed by the scene unfolding before her- their speed was inhuman, and both slashed at the other so sqiftly that if you were to blink you would have missed the entire attack. 

The two Gundams stood silently, a good distance away from each other, their backs turned and their weapons held fast in the last motion of the attack. Rose Gundam suddenly fell to it's knees as George clenched his teeth and grasped at the slash mark that had abruptly lit across the chest of his MTS suit. Marie rushed over to him, but he held up a hand to stop her. They both turned to look at Mirage Gundam, who seemed to be standing unharmed. 

Marie opened her mouth to speak, but George spoke first, answering her unasked question. 

"Just wait." 

Mirage Gundam then faltered, and hit the earth's floor with a grinding smack. 

"He's been defeated..." she said with a breath of relief. "Now we can aid..."  
But George suddenly stood and turned, then continued forward towards Mirabeau, his sword still drawn. He stood over the cockpit of the Gundam, flipping the sword so it's point brushed the top of the cockpit and began to melt a small portion of the metal. 

"You showed me what hell was like when you stole her from me." George's voice shook from the terrible anger that ran through his entire being. "For that small moment, I spent an eternity in hell. For that..."  
He raised the sword his above his head. 

"For that, I WILL SEND YOU TO HELL AS WELL!" 

George thrust the sword down towards Mirabeau's cockpit, but his movements were paralyzed a body flung under his arms and held them at the wrists, pushing up with all their strength to keep the sword from falling on it's prey. 

"George, you cannot kill him!" Marie pleaded, her eyes flooded over with tears. "If you chose to kill him, you'll be no better than he is. Please George..." she looked down at Mirabeau, who was painfully looking back up at the two. "Not even he deserves this." 

The fire in George's eyes instantly cooled and he swallowed hard, looking from Marie to Mirabeau, then back again. He slowly lowered the electric sword and let it vanish from his hands, then took a deep breath to calm himself down. 

"...George?"  
He looked down at her and smiled, putting a finger under her chin to lift it, then softly kissing her on the lips. Marie looked up at him with wide, surprised eyes. 

"What on earth would I do without you?" he said with a smile. She smiled back up at him, taking his hand in her own. 

"heh... I'm not finished yet."  
Both Marie and George's eyes flung up in front of them to see Mirabeau standing, seemingly unscathed, with the terrible grin replanted on his face. George instantly raised his arm as the sword appeared in it once again, but Marie grabbed it. 

"No, we will defeat him together." she said decisively. He smiled down at her and nodded, wrapping an arm around her small waist. She cuddled next to him, then looked upon Mirabeau with regal aqua eyes and a determined face. 

The floor of Rose Gundam's cockpit gleamed golden, and the energy surged from the floor upward at George and Marie Louise, tossing their hair upwards and encasing them both in a golden glow. The light leaked out of the cockpit and spread over the surface of the Rose Gundam- and the hyper mode was activated. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"Domon Kasshu, is that all you've got?!"  
The two Gundam's flew by eachother, each firing shots, and both attempting to dodge the opponents attack. 

Domon clenched his teeth as he whipped by the opposing Gundam, feeling a few of the shots connect with his shoulder. The two Gundams flipped around and were facing each other again, and Michelo laughed with delight when he saw the damage done to God Gundam. Heaven's Sword was untouched. 

"I was hoping for more of a fight than this, Domon Kashuu." Michelo's voice hissed a tease, seeing the anger that Domon's face was showing. The Gundam of Gundam's promptly let go of it's shoulder and stood in a fighting stance. 

"You want to see what I'm capable of, Michelo?!" Domon shouted, his fists balled tightly in front of him. Rain looked on, watching with her worried, marine-blue eyes. 

_'Domon's talking as if he's been holding back... but I've never known Domon to hold back in a fight, no matter who the opponent.'_  
The two Gundams lunged at eachother and sprayed an array of punches and kicks, then faded back simultaneously. God Gundam sported some knicks and scrapes, but Heaven's Sword gleamed as if it were new. Rain's frown deepened.  
_'It's as if Michelo is growing stronger as the battle continues!'_

"This ends now!" Domon's voice roared up suddenly, and the crest on his right hand lit up. 

"The School of the Undefeated of the East..." he continued on, closing his eyes... 

"Sekiha... TenkyouKEN!" 

The attack rushed forward at Michelo at full force, causing an artificial wind in it's wake. A huge blast rocketed into Gundam Heaven's Sword, illuminating the whole area and making the actual hit impossible to see. Domon and Rain both shielded their eyes from the intense light. 

"Did I get him?!" Domon's voice was dwarfed by the noise of the attack. The light finally died down and the two let their arms fall, squinting into the brightness that was still left. 

Laughter. 

"Not too shabby... but not good enough."  
Michelo's voice went from an amused whisper to an insane cackle as he stared down at God Gundam. The only damage the attack had done was shown with a dent on Heaven Sword's chest. 

"H... how is that possible?"  
His words weren't even angry anymore- only shock. Michelo brushed at the dent on his chest and it suddenly reformed to it's prior gleam, totally repaired. 

_'Self-recovery...'_  
"Rain." 

Rain looked up at Domon with a questioning look. 

"Rain, you need to get out of here, right now. Go out through the leg, I'll cover you while you escape."  
She looked back up at him with the same confusion, frowning at the strange look on his face. 

"Domon, I not going to just leave you he-" 

"Rain I said go!"  
She took a step back. 

"Look, Rain. Michelo is strong, even stronger than he was when he fought Argo and Sai Saici on Lantau Island. It took both of them to defeat him, and they almost got themselves killed. If this keeps up..." 

Rain now recognized the look in his eyes- it was angry and determined, but mostly it was sad. 

"Rain... I won't allow you to die like this."  
Rain gasped and a hand flung up over her mouth, her eyes wide with fear. 

"Oh Domon..." she whispered, feeling tears burn at her eyes.  
_'He can't do this! Does he really think I'll let him say goodbye this way?'_

Domon's arms suddenly wrapped around Rain and pulled her close. He took a deep breath, and held her for a moment, then regretfully released her. 

"Go now." he said quietly.  
"No." 

Domon turned back around so he was facing her, and grabbed her shoulders tightly.  
"Rain, now is not the time to go all brave on me! If you stay here, you're going to die!" he shouted. In front of them, Michelo was backing away, as if preparing to charge. 

"And if you stay here alone, you will die as well!" she shouted back. Domon blinked, surprised at her retort.  
"Domon... during your fight with Schwartz, you told me that we fight together. Well I am taking you up on that statement." she wrapped her arms around his neck and looked up at him with pleading eyes.  
"I love you, Domon. Please don't make me leave you like this." 

Domon looked down at her, at first with fear for her, but then his face relaxed and he smiled down at her in defeat. 

"Well then, I guess we'll just have to defeat him."  
Rain smiled brightly up at him and nodded happily, blinking to relieve her eyes of the built up tears. Domon smiled and brought a hand up to her face, wiping the tears away with his thumbs. They stood that way for a moment, watching the other intently, until Domon leaned down and brought Rain's face to his own, finally kissing the one person in the world that he loved. 

Heaven's Sword Gundam began glowing an eerie blood-red as it stood a good distance in front of God Gundam. 

"Thank you for taking your time, it gave me the perfect chance to fire up my new attack." Michelo hissed, his eyes aflame. Domon and Rain looked straight at him, both smiling as if they hadn't a care in the world. 

"Now, we finish this, Michelo. For good." 

God Gundam illuminated gold, which spread into the cockpit and poured over Domon and Rain. Now the light of all six Gundam's shone over the entire battlefield, casting a gorgeous golden haze over the entire area so brightly that it could be seen from miles away. They stood in a straight line, all glowing the golden color of their respective Hyper Modes. The enemies stood in front of them, each powered up and glowing blood red that sept onto the area around them, contaminating it with the evil red energy. The two colors clashed in the space between, mixing and churning as if they were holding a battle of their own. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Cecil and Sai reached for eachothers hands simultaneously, intertwining their fingers together and holding their arms out at their sides. 

"Shin..." 

Sparkling green light outlined Dragon Gundam and the two of them, glowing in tune with the gold that was already in place. 

"Ryuusei..." 

A swirl of green blew over them and latched onto their backs, creating two pairs of matching wings, each made of green and purple light. They two brought their arms up above their heads, the wings seeming to solidify as they did so. 

"Ko-cho...!" 

Sai and Cecil threw their hands down in front of them and flung their palms open. The wings tore off their backs and flowed into a spot in front of their palms and gathered for an instant, forming behind a glowing Club Ace symbol. 

"**KEN!**" 

the energy suddenly exploded forward, and ripping through the air as an array of jagged shards of white energy that pierced through Mermaid Gundam, and flooded into the cockpit. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Nastasha stood in front of Argo, her arms straight out to her sides and her palms facing Andrew. Argo stood behind her, his huge palms pressed against the back of her hands. 

"Gaia..." 

Their voices blended together as the word fell heavily onto Andrew's ears. The Black Joker symbol flashed in front of them, it's grinning face staring down at Lumber Gundam. 

"**CRUSHER!**" 

The two pulled their arms forcefully inward, each balling one hand into a fist and using the other to support it. The attack shadowed a huge fist, with the symbol of the Black Joker burned onto it's front. The fist slammed into the ground around Lumber Gundam, then suddenly exploded upward from the ground, tearing apart Lumber Gundam and sending the white light of the attack cascading into the cockpit. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Nobel and Maxter Gundam stood in each other's metallic arms, both watching the enemy intently. In one motion, Maxter pulled it's left arm back and Nobel bent down on one knee, holding it's Beam Ribbon ready in front of it. 

"Machine Gun..." 

Swirling purple energy began to gather around Chibodee's fist, and Allenby pulled back her arm, ready to let her weapon fly. 

"**PUNCH!**" 

The two attacks flung forward, Chibodee's punch spinning in the center of Allenby's cyclonic Beam Ribbon. The chaotic energy of the attacks pulled John Bull and Jester Gundams straight off the ground and sent them spinning into the air, where both stiffened, then exploded into oblivion with a brilliant white light. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Marie placed herself in front of George and clasped her hands in front of her chest. George placed his own hands over hers, and the two shut their eyes tightly as the golden energy in the cockpit was joined by a warm, rose-colored light. 

"Rose..." 

Eyes still closed, Marie unclasped her hands as George's held securely onto them, guiding them through the attack. He brought both their hands 6" apart and held them there for a moment. 

"**HURRICANE!**" 

Both of their eyes flung open and their hands pressed forward at Mirabeau. The rose light that had gathered around them blew savagely into Mirage Gundam's cockpit and wrapped itself around Mirabeau, as the entire Gundam was torn apart, piece by piece, by the tornado of red energy surrounding it. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"Bakunetsu...!" 

Domon and Rain fell into the rhythm of the attack, Domon holding Rain's arms out to her sides as she knelt in front of him. 

"God, Finger...!" 

Domon's hands wrapped around Rain's wrists and guided her in the attack, pulling them back as the ball of white energy formed in the hands of God Gundam. 

"Seki!" "Ha!" 

"Love Love, Tenkyou-**KEN~!!!**" 

Their hands overlapped and lit orange as the burning energy of the attack burst from their hands and formed the symbol of the King of Hearts. The spinning ball of energy shook the ground below it as it rushed forward and plummeted into the cockpit of Heaven's Sword. It silently paused, then exploded outward, completely destroying the Gundam and the pilot. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

White light spilled over the entire area as the attacks hit simultaneously, blinding anyone within 5 miles that didn't shield their eyes. The light persisted for a time, then slowly softened to nothing more than a backdrop, revealing only a man wearing a red jacket and a black eyepatch. 

"Well everyone, the final threat of the Devil Gundam has ended, and it seems as though our pilots will be able to compete in the next Gundam Tournament in peace... or will they?" 

"Let's get things started! 14th Fight All Set?! Ready... **GO!!!!**" 

****************************************************************** 


	9. Epilogue

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * 

Epilogue... 

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * 

"Alright, well I guess this is goodbye." 

Everyone nodded at Domon's comment, looking around at the faces of their friends and wishing they didn't have to part for such a long time. The entire group was gathered on the restored Neo Japan colony, preparing to take their decent to earth and begin the 14th Tournament. The Gundams had already been sent to the planet and awaited their pilots, now all that was left was to leave. 

"Everyone, I wish you the best of luck in the Tournament." George said politely. Marie Louise, who was standing next to him smiled and nodded, then lifted her dress and curtsied to them all. A glitter of gold shone on her left hand when it hit the sun. Rain noticed it immediatly and shot Marie Louise a devilish look, making the younger girl blush, but grin widely. George motioned to her that it was time to leave, and the two turned around and walked towards the Neo France shuttle, George's arm around Marie Louise's shoulder.   
Cecil clasped her hands together happily as she watched them walk away, smiling with dreamy eyes. 

"That's so romantic, Marie Louise told me that he officially proposed once they had cured Mirabeau. He got down on one knee and everything..." Cecil said with a sigh. Sai smiled down at her, then looked up at Domon with a mischevous look. 

"Well, it's good to see that **some** men have the guts to propose..." he teased, grinning evilly at Domon. Chibodee, who was standing next to Domon, grinned and elbowed him in the side. 

"He does have a point there, Domon..." The American pilot chimed in. 

"Hey you two, thats not...!"  
Rain stared at Domon with her arms folded and an eyebrow raised, causing him to sweat a little. Domon leaned back as she leaned towards him intimidatingly, chewed his bottom lip, then stepped to the side and bent down to talk to Cecil. 

"so uh... Cecil? Where will you stay while Sai and Hans are competing?" 

"Oh, I'll be staying with Zuisen and Keiun, at the Shaolin Temple. That way I can keep in touch with Sai, and my brother will know that I am in good hands."  
Zuisen patted Cecil on the head, as Rain looked at Domon with an annoyed expression. Allenby put her hand to her forehead and shook her head. 

"So when did Argo and Nastasha leave for Earth?" Sai broke in. 

"A few days ago, I think." Rain replied, (As Domon stood in the background, slowly inching away from the glaring eyes of Sai, Allenby and Chibodee ^_^)   
"Bolt Gundam landed off course, so they had to leave early to retrieve it in time. Also, Argo wanted to visit Andrew in the hospital. I hear he is making an amazing recovery." 

Allenby moved her hand from her forehead to her chin and looked to the sky, in deep thought. "You know, those two were sure acting a little more than friendly." Allenby mentioned. Cecil and Rain nodded in agreement.  
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say the Shuffle Alliance is going soft!" 

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"  
"WHAT WAS THAT?!"  
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" 

Allenby backed away from the three angry Shuffles, her hands up in defeat.  


"I was only kidding!" She grabbed Chibodee's arm and pulled him towards the Neo America shuttle that was waiting for them. Bunny, Shirley, Janet and Cath all stood in the front window of the ship, wearing their usual pink uniforms and waving to the two approaching pilots.  
"C'mon Chibodee, we gotta get goin'!"  
Allenby let go of Chibodee and waved to the rest of the group with both arms. She looked from Domon to Rain, then back again, and winked at Domon, who immediatly stiffened. 

"We gotta get goin too. Seeya bro, later sis!"  
Sai and Cecil waved to Domon and Rain, then headed towards the Neo China shuttle. As the walked away, Sai slipped his arm around Cecil's waist, then shot Domon a 'V' sign and a big goofy grin. 

"He really is quite the character, isn't he?" Rain asked as they watched the two walk away. Domon smiled at her and nodded, then set his arm around her shoulder, pulling his cape with it. 

"Yea, he really is."  
He grinned as Sai boarded the shuttle, almost falling off the stairs until Cecil steadied him. She shook her head, then shot one last look at Domon and Rain and followed Sai on board. 

_'That guy's gonna become incredibly strong someday... I just hope the world's ready for it...!'_

Domon thought. Rain tugged at his cape to get his attention, and the two walked away and boarded the Neo Japan shuttle. A few hours later, space was raining Gundams, and the 14th Gundam Fight had begun. 

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * 

See you on the Earth... 

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * 


	10. 5 28 03 NOTE

Hey folks! ^_^ Just giving you a lil update... I am going to start the sequel as soon as school is out, because right now I need to study for those gosh dern exams! (baka exams.) Demo, I'm starting to get some pretty decent ideas for the new fic (It's going to be called FC 64: Ready?! GO!) and I've also come up with some interesting places to put my three pawns ::cough cough:: err... reviewers turned characters! ::chuckles evilly in the background:: 

Well ANYHOO... the new fic is going to be set up like a series, idunno how many episodes though. Could have 5, could have 20. It's basically going to be about the pilots and their roads to the finals, and then the finals themselves. I'm not going to attempt a 49 episode series here, though, it'll probably be sorta like the series was, starring Domon/Rain and character-of-the-day in the first episode, one of the other couples for the second, another couple for the third... etc. etc. until I get through em all, and then it will magically be time for the finals ^_^ 

Well guys, until I see you next, wish me luck! (and if it isn't too trouble, try to psychically zap me a plotline o_O! I have yet to come up with one for this story!!! :-O ) 

Up next... **FC 64: Ready?! GO!**

** Sayonara_!_ **

~* Emma *~ 


End file.
